


Oklahoma State of Mind

by Ultra



Category: Leverage, The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Brothers, Coma, Crossover, Drama, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Family Drama, Friendship/Love, Gen, Mythology References, Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-04-17 22:55:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14199426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: When Jake discovers Eliot is living in Portland too, he has to go see him, even though it's been many years and their relationship is strained to say the least. Unfortunately, when Eliot and Parker come visiting at the Library, things don't exactly go according to plan, and as much as Cassandra tries to help, this may be beyond even her expertise.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had this crossover fic idea in my head for quite a while now but I was never 100% sure how to write it or if it would be any good. I’m now 90% sure I can make it work, so here we go! Really hope somebody out there might want to read it now ;)

“This wasn’t how this was supposed to be.”

Jacob Stone stared through the glass in the door, one hand on the back of his neck and a serious look on his face as he stared at Eliot lying silent and still in the bed. He wanted to make things better, he really did, and instead he made them ten times worse.

“We’ll figure this out,” Cassandra promised, reaching a tentative hand to his shoulder. “We always do.”

“And if we don’t?” he checked, eyes flashing angrily and a growl in his tone as he shrugged her off. “I know you’re all the glass is half full, Cassie, and that’s just great, but that’s my brother in there and he’s... I don’t even know what he is,” he said, looking to the ground.

It was all his fault. That was what hurt Jake so much. As if there hadn’t been enough pain shared amongst the members of his family over the years. Seeing his father again a couple of weeks ago hadn’t ended so well, but it had made Jake think long and hard about all the other people that he loved, like his brother, Eliot. The only person that Dad was more shamed by than Jake himself. The rejection should have bonded them closer together, but it didn’t. Blood brothers they may have been, but nobody was more different than Jacob and Eliot as they got older.

“Seemed like a good idea, trying to find him,” he said bitterly. “I figured fate had to have a plan when I found out he was right here in Portland these past few years. Like destiny, I was supposed to make amends, you know?”

“He was happy to see you,” Cassie reminded him with a half a smile. “You know he was. He was interested enough in your life that he came here to The Library. To see where you work, to meet your friends.”

“Yeah, and look what happened!” said Jacob crossly, pointing into the next room where his brother lay unconscious still. “I messed up, again.”

“No, Jake,” she told him, grabbing his arm when he moved to storm away. “This isn’t your fault.”

“Tell it to Eliot,” he advised her, knowing she couldn’t. “Better yet, tell it to Parker,” he said acidly.

Cassandra recoiled as if he physically slapped her. Jacob was a little grumpy, even a little harsh sometimes, but rarely with Cassie, and he certainly never had been mean. Even back when he told her he didn’t trust her at all, he said it so kindly she was more sad than mad about it. Now they were good friends, or so Cassandra thought. As much as Jake was hurting, she couldn’t stand to have him talk to her this way.

“I can’t take this anymore,” said Jake, pulling his arm from her grip too easily and walking away before another word could be spoken.

With a heavy sigh, and tears in her eyes she was barely holding in, Cassie looked back through the window into the next room. She hoped rather than believed that everything was going to work out okay.

“Any change?” said a voice, so suddenly that Cassie almost jumped out of her skin.

“No. Nothing,” she confirmed, turning to face Parker with her hand over her heart that beat wildly out of control. “We will do everything we can, I promise. There has to be an explanation, and an antidote to whatever caused this. Once The Library is secure, we’ll get everybody on the case...”

She stopped talking when she realised Parker was going into Eliot’s room and evidentially not listening at all anymore.

“Okay then,” said Cassandra to herself. “I’ll just talk to myself.”

She watched the other woman sit down on the chair by Eliot’s bed and lean over him, apparently speaking softly to her friend. Cassandra wondered if they weren’t more than just friends, but from the way it was told to her, Parker was dating another man. Not that her relationship with the as yet unseen Hardison seemed all that stable from what she had heard.

“What a real mess,” Cassie said to herself, and yet it had all started so well, just a couple of days ago.

_...48 hours earlier..._

“Are you okay?”

“Sure. I’m fine,” said Jake, looking anything but in Cassie’s opinion, but she didn’t say it. “I just... It’s weird. We’ve been here more than a year, and he was here all the time. My brother, a couple of miles down the street from The Annex.”

“Pretty big coincidence,” she agreed. “The odds are amazingly small. Calculable, of course,” she noted, watching the figures scrolling in front of her eyes, waving her hands amongst them to get what she needed in the right places.

“Cassie,” said Jake, his hand on her arm getting her attention. “Not right now.”

“Right, sorry,” she said, forcing a smile as she swiped away all the mathematical equations that blocked her view of the brew pub’s front doors. “So, are we going in?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Jake nodded, taking one more deep breath and then pushing forward through the doors.

Cassandra followed, unsure what to expect when Jacob finally faced his brother again. He told her the story, how they grew apart when they got older, how their father pretty much declared Eliot dead to him decades before, possibly the only person worse treated than Jake himself when it came to their dad. Of course, even Jacob admitted that there were reasons enough to think the worst of Eliot.

Apparently, he hadn’t always been one of the good guys. That had changed more recently. A little digging on the internet didn’t bring up much, but then Ezekiel offered to lend a hand, mostly on account of his being nosey, or so Jake had said, and suddenly they knew everything.

It was strange to be walking into a place that was knowingly run by a bunch of thieves. Cassie expected to be more concerned than she was about meeting not just Eliot, but his associates, also. Still, she had made friends with Ezekiel Jones easy enough, and there was hardly a thief more world-renowned than he. At least, that’s the way he told it.

“Oh!” she started when a blonde woman suddenly appeared in front of her as if by magic. “Hi, I... Well, we were looking for someone.”

“Eliot St- Spencer,” said Jake, stumbling over the fake name a moment. “Is he here?”

The blonde eyed him with even more suspicion than when she had looked at Cassie, but Jake couldn’t wonder as to why. Whoever she was, she knew his brother, and was clearly noting the uncanny resemblance between them.

“Eliot!” she yelled over the bar. “There’s a guy out here wearing your face!”

“Parker, what the hell are you-?” Eliot stopped short of saying anymore as he appeared from the kitchens.

He wore a bandana on his head and an apron covering his clothes, though Cassandra couldn’t help but notice the muscles that strained beneath the layers. Save for those and the longer hair, he might have been Jake in disguise.

“Wow,” she said without really noticing she had.

“Hey, brother,” said Jake, not even registering Cassie’s reaction. “’S been a long time.”

There was a moment when Eliot seemed to have turned to stone, he was so still, and then in a second he leapt over the bar as if it wasn’t there at all and pulled his brother into a rib-crushing hug.

“Damnit, Jake,” he said, holding onto him still. “You’re the last person I expected to see.”

“Yeah, well,” he replied, holding on just as tight as Eliot ever was. “Heard you were in Portland, I was too. A guy can’t come visit his big brother?” he said as they pulled apart and looked at each other.

“Yeah, a guy can do that,” said Eliot, smiling big. “It’s real good to see you.”

“You too.” Jake nodded.

“You never told me you had a brother,” said Parker, frowning hard. “He could’ve been really useful on cons, you know, looking so much like you,” she said thoughtfully, putting her face in between the guys and glancing back and forth between them so fast, Cassie felt dizzy just watching her.

“Jake doesn’t do what we do, Parker,” Eliot told her with a look. “Hell, these days I don’t know what he does,” he considered, looking back at his brother.

“I’d love to tell you, but maybe not here,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at the crowd of diners and drinkers.

“Upstairs,” Eliot advised, “but maybe first you could introduce us to the beautiful lady that I gotta assume is your girlfriend,” he said, smiling at Cassie then.

“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not... I mean, I’m a friend and a girl, or woman, technically, I guess, but not a girlfriend. We’re not... Jacob and I, it’s not... No.”

“You talk fast,” said Parker with a look, “and she really, really wants everybody to know you’re not dating,” she told Jake then.

“I didn’t mean to...” said Cassie helplessly. “I was just clarifying the facts. Cassandra Cillian,” she said, holding out a hand for Eliot to shake.

“Any friend of Jake’s is welcome here,” he assured her, taking her hand and kissing it rather than shaking. “Come on up.”

Leaving Amy and the other staff to run things in the pub, Eliot and Parker escorted Jake and Cassie upstairs. Conversation was stilted at best when they got there. Neither brother seemed entirely confident in talking about how things were now or how they used to be. Jake mentioned seeing their father recently, but aside from asking how he was doing, Eliot didn’t seem interested in hearing anymore. The look on his face seemed to suggest to Cassie that it was all too painful to recollect how they parted ways the last time.

“So, you’re not a thief or a hitter or anything,” said Parker, cutting into the conversation just as soon as she could, “but you don’t have a regular job or you would’ve told us what it was in the bar.”

“She has a point,” said Eliot, looking thoughtfully at Jake. “Last I heard, you were still in the family business, publishing all your academic papers under a dozen different aliases.”

“Yeah, well. Things changed,” said Jake, ducking his head. “Don’t get mad when I tell you this, okay, ‘cause it ain’t like it sounds.”

“This ought to be good,” Eliot replied, looking cautious now.

“I got recruited into a team,” Jake started to explain. “We... well, we help people, and we protect stuff. El, I’m... I’m a Librarian.”

There was a look that went with the phrase, that conveyed that capital L on the front of the job title most would assume was a normal, every day job. Cassandra wasn’t shocked. Jake already told her that Eliot might not be as surprised about magic as others often were. Though he had never been certain he believed all the stories before, Jacob and Eliot had a cousin who was rumoured to have dabbled in the darker arts years ago, working for a law firm that was literally in leagues with the devil or some such. It was the only reason Jake was worried about telling his brother about his new job now. From the look on Eliot’s face, Cassandra more than understood why he had been so concerned.

“Get out.”

“I knew this was a mistake,” said Jake sadly, rising from his seat. “Come on, Cassie.”

“No,” said Eliot then, getting to his feet, also. “I didn’t mean it like that. Jake, I wasn’t... I meant get out of that job, that place. The Library, it ain’t... that ain’t a place you wanna be.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me,” said Jacob definitely. “Okay, you may be my older brother, but this is my life, a life you ain’t been a part of in too long.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“Yeah, you did, El, and you made it a long, long time ago.”

They stood there, almost toe to toe, blue eyes locked onto blue eyes. Cassandra realised very suddenly that she had stopped breathing and forced herself to do so before the world quite got a chance to go black in front of her eyes.

“There’s no team at The Library,” said Parker then, catching everybody’s attention. “There’s only one Librarian at a time and he works alone, always.”

“Huh. Everybody knows now?” said Cassie looking from her to the guys and back.

“Parker?” Eliot said with a questioning look. “You know about this?”

“Sure. Who hasn’t tried to steal from The Library? They have the best stuff,” she said, smiling kind of nostalgically. “I’m hungry,” she declared then, taking herself off to the kitchen without a second thought.

Eliot shook his head. “Eight years, and I still don’t... Parker!” he yelled then, giving chase.

Jake looked from his brother’s retreating form to stare at Cassandra.

“So much for The Library being a secret, huh?”

All Cassie had to give him was a shrug.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, people are actually reading this story and want more of it. That’s very cool. Thanks to the folks who commented and/or left kudos :)

When Nate and Sophie left the team, it was Parker who had taken on the Mastermind role. To a certain extent, they all learnt to share all the parts of the team that used to be so well defined, but on the whole, she called the shots, because the guys trusted her to see the big picture in her own unique way. She had been trained for it, and even Parker knew she did it well most of the time. Of course, all that control she learnt to have over the jobs, her life, and everything, it was having a tendency to get away from her lately, and she didn’t like that one little bit.

When emotions got involved, those pesky feelings that Parker had lived without for many years before joining Team Leverage, she just started to flail. There was a large part of Parker that automatically wanted to run for the hills in times of trouble. Unfortunately, it wasn’t so easy to just up and leave when you loved someone, or more than one someone.

“You picked a lousy time to get knocked out, Eliot,” she told his unconscious self. “A really lousy time.”

He wasn’t going to answer her. There was a chance he could hear what she was saying. Parker remembered watching movies with Hardison where people woke up from comas and declared they had heard everything said to them whilst they were unconscious, and her boyfriend told her that wasn’t just something that was written into the story, in was based in medical fact. Of course, whatever was making Eliot sleep in this way probably wasn’t anything medical, but rather magical.

They wouldn’t know for sure until The Librarians looked into the whole situation, and they couldn’t do that until they secured The Library itself and The Annex besides. Parker did get it. Until they were all safe from further attack, there was no time for research, and it wasn’t as if Eliot was going anywhere. He was fine in every way, as far as they could tell, he just wasn’t waking up.

Times like this, Parker wished she had stayed alone in the world. It was easier not to care about people, which was why she decided early on not to do it. Not long after her foster-brother died thanks to her own negligence, Parker put up all the barriers and intended to stay alone forever. Alone was better, nobody could get hurt. Then there was Team Leverage and her whole theory fell apart. Of course, before them, there had been Archie, but for all that she loved him, Parker knew her place with her father-figure. The team were different. They wanted to love her, and she couldn’t help but love them back. Unfortunately, that affection meant that when someone got hurt, she hurt too.

“I actually thought it’d be fun,” she said to Eliot then. “Meeting your brother, getting a guided tour of The Library. It should’ve been great,” she mused, thinking about what had happened.

Honestly, it had been a good time, until that last part. Jacob looked a lot like Eliot, but personality-wise they differed a lot. Jake was a little more geeky, though nothing like Hardison really. He seemed to love books and history, which Parker really didn’t get, but he knew more about art than even she could boast, and that impressed her, a lot.

When he offered to bring Eliot to The Library, Parker decided she was coming along too. Any other time, Eliot might’ve argued with her. Sure, he gave into a lot where she was concerned, always had, but now in particular he was being extra kind, and she knew why. 

It was all falling apart. The team of five had become a team of three and everything was fine, but three years later, the cracks were beginning to show, in fact they were getting pretty deep just recently. It wasn’t Hardison’s fault, not really. Parker couldn’t blame him for wanting a slightly different version of the future to the one she envisioned. They always said they were going to go on like this, working for Leverage International, doing what they did best. No settling down, no being normal, because where was the fun in that?

As time passed, Hardison seemed to change his mind. He still loved the old life, but he would make comments sometimes about one day in the future, about marriage, kids, a house with a white picket fence and roses around the door. He wanted to foster or adopt, take care of kids the way his Nana had taken care of him, the way nobody ever bothered to take care of Parker. He wanted to look into a bright future with a family and a whole bunch of things that Parker couldn’t even imagine.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love him, not even that she hated the idea of being part of a family, she just didn’t want it the way he saw it, and she certainly didn’t want to think of any future scene without Eliot in it.

All the drama made her cranky, and though she had learnt to express herself and her emotions so much better over the years, Parker still had trouble when it came to saying what she felt with Hardison, especially when she knew what she felt would hurt him. She got nasty when she bottled things up, antsy and impossible. Hardison hardly even seemed to realise why, but Eliot did. Eliot always knew.

Now Hardison was away at some comic book event for a few days, and Parker was stressing over how she was going to tell him all the stuff that was in her head when he finally got back. Eliot understood, knowing she needed to take her mind off things, so he allowed her to come on this trip to The Library. Now Parker wished neither of them had ever set foot in the place.

“I know he’s your brother, and his friends seem nice enough, but... but we don’t belong here,” she told Eliot sadly. “If we hadn’t come everything would be fine right now. Well, not everything,” she considered with a sigh, “but I still wish we hadn’t come here.”

_...24 hours earlier..._

“This isn’t The Library. It’s a bridge,” said Parker, putting her hand up to block the sunlight from her eyes. “It’s an impressive bridge, I’ve jumped off it a few times, but it’s definitely not The Library.”

“Were you listening to anything that Jake said yesterday?” asked Eliot, practically growling in that way he had a habit of doing when he was mad.

Of course, he also did it when he was nervous, though Parker knew she wasn’t supposed to mention that, so she didn’t.

“He kind of went on and on,” she admitted. “I zoned out when I realised he wasn’t talking about the pretty, shiny things anymore.”

“Those are artefacts and magical relics, Parker,” Eliot reminded her, “and what are we not gonna do when we see those?”

“Not get caught stealing them,” she said, nodding her head.

“Parker!”

“Not steal them at all.” Parker sighed and rolled her eyes for good measure. “I remember when you used to be fun,” she added grumpily, storming up to what might be a door in the bridge and knocking hard. “Hey, anyone home?”

It didn’t take long for someone to answer her, but it certainly wasn’t the person she had been expecting.

“Well, hello, gorgeous,” said the Asian guy with a grin. “I was going to complain that you’re not my pizza, but actually, I’m not disappointed.”

All this was before Eliot stepped into view beside Parker, arms folded across his chest and eyes shooting daggers.

“We’re here to see Jake,” he told the stranger.

“Ah, you’re the brother. That’s a heck of a family resemblance you’ve got going on there, mate. Ezekiel Jones,” he introduced himself.

Parker gasped loudly, eyes wide as saucers as she stared at him.

“He’s Ezekiel Jones?!” she hissed at Eliot. “The Ezekiel Jones?! I hate you!” she told the other guy.

“Parker, calm down,” Eliot advised her.

Recognition dawned in the eyes of Ezekiel Jones then.

“Parker? The Parker? No way!” he gasped. “You’re a legend, mate. A true legend. You’re probably the only thief in the world in the same class as me!”

At that remark, Parker looked somewhat less mad, but Eliot really couldn’t care less about the two thieves and what was bound to turn into ten rounds of ‘Who Stole It Better?’ Again, he asked where his brother was.

“Come right in, mates,” Ezekiel said, standing aside so they could do just that.

Before long they were inside what looked like an ante-room, an office, and a small, regular library all rolled into one. Parker and Jones were in deep conversation about thievery, and Eliot was being welcomed in by Jake and also Cassandra.

“Glad you came, El,” he told his brother. “Means a lot to me.”

“Yeah, well,” Eliot grumbled. “Probably the last place I should be, but what the hell. You’re my brother, this all means something to you, and if you say you can handle all the magic stuff-”

“I can,” Jake insisted. “We don’t abuse magic here. We’re trying to keep it out of the world as much as we can.”

“Magic has positive uses as well as negative ones,” Cassandra insisted, “but as Jake said, mostly we work to keep it out of the world at large. We want everybody to be safe from the dark side of it all.”

“Works for me,” Eliot agreed. “So, somehow this place connects to New York?”

“Yes!” Cassie exclaimed, nodding madly. “The one thing we do use magic for here is the doors. We can go anywhere thanks to Mr Jenkins magic door, and then of course, there’s the constant link to The Library, which is right this way,” she said, gesturing for Eliot to follow.

“She’s almost as nuts about her doors as Parker is about rappelling gear and diamonds,” he said quietly to Jake.

“Yeah, but you got to admit, it’s cute.”

Eliot smiled, looking back at where Parker was still in deep conversation with the other thief. He might admit it, inside his own head, but it was safer if he never said it out loud. Instead, he followed Jake and Cassie to The Library, and marvelled at the sight of it.

It truly was an epic place, with more floors and rooms and wings than he could ever be shown in a few hours, or even a few days. The two Librarians showed the hitter all their favourite places, asking him what he might be interested in seeing as well. Jake was sure his brother would get a kick out of some of the ancient and mystic weaponry and was proven right as they took a tour through the relics of several old civilisations. The Roman antiquities were something to see, and then they moved on the Greek versions, which were quite similar, but of course had different names.

“Seriously?” said Eliot, eyes wider than Jake had ever seen them before. “That right there is the lightning bolt of Zeus?”

“I know, man!” Jake enthused. “Crazy, right?”

“This place is amazing,” Eliot acquiesced. “I’m not exactly sure on the safety of you being around all of this stuff,” he teased his brother, “but I guess-”

He stopped speaking abruptly as an alarm sounded, loud enough to wake the dead. In a place like this, Eliot was concerned that might actually be what was happening. Cassandra had her hands clamped over her ears, looking physically pained by the noise, as Eliot and Jake both fell into a battle stance, one looking decidedly more well-trained than the other.

“Jake? What is this?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Last time this happened, it was the perimeter alarm. Intruders.”

“Great. Just great,” Eliot grumbled, cussing under his breath as the elevator doors suddenly opened and a pair of masked men rushed in.

Everything was a blur after that. Fists and feet flying as Jake tried to take on one guy and Eliot the other, with Cassie yelling at them to keep away from the antiquities for fear of what the magical consequences might be. Still, the alarm blared, as Eliot and Jake fought off their attackers, something that the hitter was finding oddly difficult all of a sudden. Just when he thought he was losing his touch, he started to get the upper hand, reaching to pull the ski mask from the face of his opponent. He never quite got the chance.

Eliot heard Cassie scream a second before a fist caught him across the face. It felt like a sledgehammer rather than a human hand. All Eliot could think, just before the world went black, was that this wasn’t usually how these fights went for him. Something was definitely not right here.


	3. Chapter 3

“I am pleased to report that both The Library and the Annex are now secure,” said Jenkins, standing before the assembled Librarians, plus an extra thief. “Our would-be burglars are safely locked in a room that even our Mr Jones would have trouble escaping from, and there is no possible way anybody else is getting in or out of here, without a very specific invitation.”

“What does that mean?” asked Parker, looking around for an explanation.

“It means that if and when Eve or Flynn try to get in, they can, but nobody else,” said Cassandra with a forced smile, “right?” she checked with Jenkins then.

“Just so, Miss Cillian,” he assured her. “Should our Guardian or Mr Carson attempt to return to us via the usual door, or any other means, the security systems will recognise them and allow access. This is based not only on facial recognition, but also, a number of other factors that are less easily faked. Between myself and Mr Jones, I believe we have done a good enough job, there will be no more attacks on The Library today.”

“Which is great,” said Ezekiel, “but what about his brother and her mate?” he said, tilting his head towards Jacob and Parker sat beside him.

“I’ve never seen Eliot go down like that, man,” said Jake, shaking his head. “He was always the fighter. I mean, I’m good in a bar fight, but he had skills, and the thickest head of anyone I ever knew my whole life,” he said, smirking terribly.

Parker smiled too, because she knew he had a point.

“He can take a punch,” she agreed. “He’s taken too many. Sometimes we forget he’s not a superhero and...”

Her voice trailed away, because she didn’t have any more words. Those she had spoken were Eliot’s own, just a few weeks ago, after a particularly nasty fight occurred during a job. A couple of thugs really laid into Eliot, and then two of their buddies came to pile into the fray. He had been so battered and bruised after that, Parker felt terrible for having led him into that situation. Usually Eliot brushed it off as nothing, but that time he had been just a little mad about it, reminding Parker that he wasn’t Superman, not completely invulnerable. He was certainly proving that now.

“It didn’t look like an ordinary punch,” said Cassandra, shaking her head. “Eliot’s attacker was about the same height as him and didn’t have half the body-weight. He didn’t move like he knew any kind of martial arts, it all appeared to be unorganised brute force, and not so very much of that.”

“That was true for guy I was fighting,” Jake confirmed.

“Okay,” said Cassandra, flinging her arms wide into the space in front of her, looking into calculations that only she could see. “Based on his estimated body weight and size, and the larger mass of Eliot along with all his skills, there’s no way a single punch should have taken him down, let alone left him unconscious this long afterwards, unless-”

“Unless magic was involved,” Jenkins cut in, reaching under the desk for something.

He produced a box and on opening the lid revealed an item than nobody had quite been expecting.

“That’s a rock,” said Ezekiel, clearly unimpressed by the sight of it.

“It’s like coal or something,” Parker noted. “Not even pretty.”

“Wait a second, have I see that somewhere before?” asked Jacob, frowning as he peered into the box. “I swear I’ve...”

He got no further in what he meant to say as an enormous yawn overtook him. His hand covered his mouth. He hadn’t been if the least bit tired before now, but suddenly his limbs were turning to lead, and he was wishing now was a good time for a nap.

“You may have seen this when taking your brother on his tour of The Library,” Jenkins explained, closing the lid on the box without pause.

Immediately, Jake felt more awake again. He looked at Jenkins and didn’t need to ask what the connection was. This rock had something to do with Eliot sleeping the way he was right now.

“Clearly, I’m missing something,” said Ezekiel, shaking his head. “What’s the rock?”

“This rock was found beside Mr Spencer’s unconscious form in the Greek antiquities room,” Jenkins explained. “At first, it appeared it may have simply fallen from it’s plinth, but on reviewing the camera footage from the fight, I think I now have a different explanation.”

As he spoke, he went over to the mirror which suddenly showed not a reflection of the room, but the recorded images of what had happened when The Library was attacked. Parker moved closer to the mirror to get a better look. None of Hardison’s tech was so impressive. She could start to really like magic, Parker thought, especially if it could help Eliot.

“Now, you see, just here,” said Jenkins, politely inviting Parker to move aside so the others might see also. “The attacker picks up what he believes to be a perfectly ordinary rock, I am sure, and it is in his hand when he strikes Mr Spencer’s face.”

Cassandra turned away before the impact. It had been bad enough to see in person, she couldn’t bear a replay.

“Of course, this is no ordinary rock,” Jenkins went on to explain, “but a stone of the Oneiroi.”

“The Oneiroi?” Jake echoed.

“And they were?” asked Ezekiel, shaking his head.

“The Oneiroi were gods and demigods,” his fellow Librarian explained. “They ruled over dreams and nightmares. According to Hesiod, they were the sons of Nyx, Goddess of Night, and according to Cicero, were fathered by Erebus, God of Darkness.”

“Quite so,” Jenkins agreed. “Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos were said to control the dreams and nightmares of all, bending the minds of men to their will whilst they slept.”

“Is that what’s happening to Eliot?” asked Cassandra. “Is his mind being controlled? His dreams?”

“Quite possibly,” Jenkins considered. “I’m afraid I’m no particular expert on the Oneiroi, but I do know that this rock,” he said, hand atop the box that held it, “is said to be taken from the walls of the cave where the brothers dwelt, deep in the bowels of Hades.”

Cassandra shuddered at the sound of those words. “Well, that’s creepy,” she declared, unsure what else she could say.

“So, the rock makes people sleepy,” Jake recapped, “and then, what? Makes you have nightmares?”

“As I say, my knowledge on the subject is not complete,” Jenkins repeated, looking apologetic about the fact. “It may be that your brother is merely sleeping deeply and will wake in due course. His vital signs are strong, he seems to be suffering no particular injuries or illness beyond a sleep from which he cannot wake.”

“Can’t Parker just kiss him?” asked Ezekiel, getting everyone’s attention in a second and a squeak of surprise from the thief herself. “I mean, fairy tales are real, more or less. We proved that more than once. So, it’s like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, right? Magic puts the princess to sleep, or in this case, the big butch fighter guy,” he explained, “only to be woken by true love’s kiss.”

“They’re not a couple, Jones,” Jacob hissed, turning to apologise to Parker in the next moment.

She was already gone.

* * *

There weren’t many things to which Parker gave real, serious thought. She was the type to act first think later when it came to leaping from tall buildings or rushing into some place she could rob. This situation was different. Kissing Eliot required some real heavy consideration.

Actually, this wasn’t the first time she thought about it. There had been several occasions over the years, though Parker never had told Eliot, or put a plan into action. There was always a reason not to. Now, there was one very big reason to just do it, according to Ezekiel Jones.

It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in magic, because she did. From Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny to the relics of The Library, Parker didn’t doubt every single one was real. Fairy tales were at least based in truth. Maybe a kiss could wake Eliot up, but it would have to be true love.

“Magic is fine, I kind of understand how that works,” she said as much to herself as to Eliot’s still and silent form, “but love?”

It was unfair to suggest she had no idea what that was these days. The team had loved her like family, and still did. Parker knew she loved them too, in her own way, but she wasn’t so sure that counted.

Hardison said he loved her all the time, or he used to, and Parker would just kind of smile and nod, as if she felt the same. She did love him, of course she did. Never once had she doubted that she cared deeply for Hardison, but she wondered if it was all it should be, if it was that true love that could break spells. She could believe it of Nate and Sophie, perhaps, but of herself and Hardison?

“I guess it doesn’t matter now,” she said aloud. “I mean, if it’s true or not, if it can break a spell or not. You do everything for us, to keep us safe, to save our lives, and I do lo-”

Parker stalled in her statement. She couldn’t say it, even with him asleep and unable to hear, but she felt it. She could prove it, she hoped, as she leaned over Eliot’s prone form and let her eyes fall shut. Purely through instinct, her lips found his and Parker kissed Eliot for the first time in her life.

After all of a second or two, she was startled by an alarm sounding. Parker pulled away from Eliot in an instant, looking to the ceiling where a light flashed and the alarm wailed yet.

“Not again!” she yelled, hands at her ears.

She looked back at Eliot. He looked just the same, eyes closed, breathing even, but no movement in any other part of him, not even a hint. It hadn’t worked.

“Damnit, Eliot!” she cried, rushing from the room and back towards The Annex proper.

She got there in time to find The Librarians gathered around a globe by a glowing door, apparently arguing about what to do next.

“What is going on?” asked Parker loudly, trying to be heard over the alarm.

The wailing sound ended a second after she spoke the words and Jenkins reappeared from a side room, looking relieved.

“We are preventing another intruder from gaining access to The Annex,” he explained. “At least, that is the hope.”

“He seems fairly determined,” Cassie noted, “and more than a little angry.”

“If he’s as good with tech as he thinks he is,” said Ezekiel, watching the mirror that was apparently now displaying a view of the would-be intruder, “he will get in. Unless the magic stops him, I s’pose.”

Parker moved to look over his shoulder and then sighed.

“That’s not an intruder,” she explained, rubbing her forehead that already ached too much for comfort. “That’s Hardison.”


	4. Chapter 4

Never was there a room of more awkward people than in The Annex this particular day. Parker and Hardison, who The Librarians had understood were dating, sat either side of the desk barely looking at each other. Jenkins had just finished explaining, again, what had probably happened to Eliot. Jake, Cassie, and Ezekiel were eager to figure out how to fix the problem. Honestly, they mostly just wanted to escape the room with the atmosphere you could cut with a knife.

“So, this all happened and you, what?” asked Hardison, looking less than impressed. “Just forgot to call me?”

“There wasn’t time,” said Parker snippily. “Everything has happened so fast. Besides, up until Eliot got knocked out, there was nothing worth calling for. After, it’s just been one thing and another thing.”

“She’s got a point, mate,” said Ezekiel, hoping to be helpful, or maybe just stick his nose in, it was hard to tell sometimes. “Your man Spencer got knocked out, and then we had to secure the place, and just when we were starting to get to the researching what happened part, you showed up.”

“As if you knew something was wrong,” said Cassandra then, a frown forming on her face. “How did you know that?”

“I didn’t, not exactly,” Hardison admitted. “Just thought it was weird I heard nothing from nobody, so I checked in on the cameras back at the pub. I saw Eliot and Parker leaving with you guys, ran facial recognition, found out you belonged to The Library... and that Eliot been keeping a brother a secret all this time.”

“We all have secrets,” said Parker, like a reflex.

She looked up at the same moment Hardison turned and their eyes met. Whatever was happening with the two of them, it had to be put aside for now. If Eliot needed help, that was priority one.

“How bad is he?”

“Unconscious,” she said flatly. “Some kind of magical unconscious. I have no idea.”

“Allow me to elaborate, if I can,” said Jenkins, taking point, repeating much of what he had said to the others before Hardison arrived.

Parker got up and wandered over to where Cassie was whispering to Jake, and Jones was hammering away on his phone.

“So, what now?” she asked. “We need to help Eliot.”

“There are books we can look into,” Cassandra explained. “Unfortunately, none of us has any great knowledge on this particular subject.”

“Even if I knew the Greek mythology, this rock is... I have no idea what the antidote or whatever would be,” said Jake, rubbing the back of his neck. “Maybe he’ll come around in an hour, maybe not.”

“I’ll dig into the card catalogue,” said Cassandra, looking from Jake to Parker and feeling just awful for the both of them. “Greek Mythology, the Oneiroi, cross referenced with rocks or caves or stones...”

Cassie moved away to start her search, but no sooner had she got one drawer opened up than Ezekiel stopped her.

“I think I’ve got something,” he declared, pulling up a document on his phone. “A paper, written by none other than Flynn Carsen, on exactly this rock,” he said, gesturing to the box on the table where the very item lay yet. “Seemed he did a whole study on it way back when, and all of its magical properties.”

“I did say, did I not, that if anyone was going to know about this it would likely be Mr Carsen,” said Jenkins, wandering over. “I’ll track down the original paper, it’ll be somewhere in The Library, I’m sure, and any additional research will probably be filed alongside it.”

“I’ll print off what I have here, just in case,” said Ezekiel, moving away to the next room to do just that.

“I’m still going to check the card catalogue, see if there are any books, any more information on what might be happening to Eliot,” said Cassie, looking to Jake with an encouraging smile.

“So, I’m guessing the best guy for the situation is Carsen,” said Hardison then. “He’s the real Librarian, right?”

“We’re all real Librarians,” said Jake, looking a little too like his brother for the hacker’s liking as he stared at him. “Just because we don’t know about this one thing, we’re just as smart as he is. We’ll help Eliot.”

“We’ll all help,” said Parker definitely. “Somehow, but where is Flynn? Can we get a hold of him?”

“No.” Jake admitted, shaking his head. “He went off on a mission of his own a while back. We heard nothing, then all of a sudden, Baird, she’s our Guardian, she hears from him. Just a note saying he needs her to go meet with him someplace. We haven’t heard from either of them since.”

“And this happened how long before your Library got attacked by the ski-masked duo?” asked Hardison with wide eyes.

It was strange that it hadn’t occurred to anyone else until now, but Jacob was well aware that his mind hadn’t been entirely on the chain events leading up to his brother getting knocked out, only the fact of Eliot’s unconscious state itself. Now that he thought on it, it did seem like quite the coincidence. Flynn gone, Baird called to follow, and then the attack, when the two people most likely to know what to do weren’t around.

“I think it’s time we questioned those guys that bust in here,” said Jake, heading for the door - Parker followed.

Jenkins stepped into their path before they got more than a few paces into the hall.

“I’m sorry, Mr Stone, Ms Parker, but I really don’t believe that’s a good idea,” he said, shaking his head.

“Jenkins, they have to know what happened,” Jake insisted. “My brother is lying unconscious in a room after being whammied with some magic rock, and you expect me to sit here and not ask the only two people who might know something about what happened?”

“Not only am I almost completely certain that they have no clue as to what they have caused here,” Jenkins informed them, glancing at Parker and seeing that she was already trying to figure out some new way to access the prisoners that wouldn’t require him moving, “I have also ensured that the room in question cannot and will not be able to accessed until Mr Carson returns.”

* * *

“Man, this sure wasn’t how I saw this week going,” said Hardison, sat by the bed where Eliot was lying unconscious yet. “So, all those years we was tight like brothers, you never told me you actually had one. Not that I mad about that, ‘cause that’d be dumb, but you coulda told us, man. ‘Specially since he a Librarian and all.”

Hardison pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling like a headache was incoming. He really hadn’t slept enough the last couple of hours. What he wouldn’t do for a bottle of orange soda and his own bed, but that wasn’t going to happen. His family needed him, and as screwed up as things were getting with him and Parker, that all had to be shelved for a while. For once, Eliot needed saving, instead of being the one to save them. There was no way in hell Hardison was letting this guy down, not now.

“Your bro and his buddies are looking into the whole magical voodoo stuff. That’s one skill I ain’t got,” he said, shaking his head. “I mean, I know magic if it’s World of Warcraft or The 10th Kingdom or whatever, but this? This is a whole other world, man.”

“Actually, magic is really only science that’s beyond our understanding,” said a voice, “plus a little math.”

Hardison turned to find Cassandra stood behind him, clutching a book to her chest.

“How’s that?” he asked, a little confused by what he figured was supposed to be an explanation.

“Well, it’s a lot to get your head around at first, magic being in the world and all, but it really is just a little way past the spectrum of the sciences and mathematics that we already understand. Anyway, we have resources here, and Mr Jenkins has certain specific skills. The point is, we think we may have an explanation for Eliot’s condition.”

“What is it?” asked Parker, dropping down from above.

Cassie almost jumped out of her skin.

“How do you do that?” she asked, the words coming out more like a series of squeaks than words.

“You never get used to it,” Hardison assured her. “So, anything you got to help Eliot, let’s hear it,” he urged Cassie then.

“Right,” she said, opening up the book she had been cradling this whole time. “These pages here, which were referenced by Flynn in his paper on the Oneiroi, explain the supposed effects that the rock from the cave might have on any mortal who comes into contact with it. From what I’ve read here, I’m pretty sure that Eliot isn’t actually in a coma state, he really is just sleeping, just very deeply.”

“He’s not like Sleeping Beauty, Ezekiel was wrong,” said Parker pointedly.

Cassie frowned before suddenly realising what that meant. Clearly there had been a kiss and quite understandably Hardison was not supposed to hear about it.

“Duly noted,” she told Parker, feeling less words were better in this situation. “Er, actually, when it comes to waking Eliot up, we’re not sure how that’s going to work. It seems likely he’s essentially living inside a literal dream or... potentially, a nightmare,” she admitted, “probably without realising that he’s no longer in the real world.”

Hardison looked momentarily bemused. Parker seemed more impatient than anything else.

“So, how do we fix it?” she asked, arms folded across her chest.

“That’s the trickier part,” Cassie admitted. “Our knowledge of magic is limited, except for Mr Jenkins, and he’s not as good on Greek mythology as in other areas. The best person to help us would be Flynn, but-”

“He ain’t here,” Hardison noted, shaking his head. “I’m guessing he’s someplace you can’t just call on a cell phone or track on CCTV?”

“He could be,” said Cassie, shifting awkwardly, “but it’s equally likely that he’s not. I wish he were here. Jake and Ezekiel are doing all they can to track him down.”

“Well then, let’s see if we can’t add all we can do to the mix,” said Hardison, pulling a tablet from his back pocket as he headed back to The Annex main room.

Parker hung back a moment, turning back to stare at Eliot’s prone form.

Cassie wished she knew what to say to make it better. Poor Parker seemed so broken up over her friend, and yet, just as pained when it came to her supposed boyfriend. Finally, she walked away, muttering to herself, and it was Cassandra’s turn to hang back a moment, watching her friend’s brother sleep.

“Hold on, Eliot,” she said, even though she was already half-certain he couldn’t hear her. “We’re going to fix this, somehow.”


	5. Chapter 5

Parker wasn’t sure she fully understood how Eliot was stuck in a dream world, or even a nightmare world. She was pretty sure the first one was better than the other, but she didn’t understand the way Cassie explained it, all the stuff about Greek myths and rocks from hell. It wasn’t logical, and though many people said that Parker didn’t really make sense either, that didn’t mean she understood this.

That said, she certainly felt like she was sleep-walking herself as The Librarians went about their business, without any need for her help. Hardison at least had work to do. Between them, he and Jones, together with Jenkins, figured out a way to track down Flynn Carsen and even bring him back super-fast via the magic door. It was impressive, and usually Parker would be itching to dive through that door into the unknown, but not now. Not without Eliot. Not for as long as he was lost to them.

“Hold on, can’t hear you when you all talk at once. Cannot hear you!” Flynn had yelled, running up the first few steps of the stair case and leaning over the bannister to maintain order. “Now one at a time.”

Parker had watched and listened as Cassandra and Jacob took turns telling the tale, about Eliot and the masked men and the rock that knocked one of Parker’s favourite people out cold. Jones cut in, talking about the paper Flynn wrote years before, and Jenkins asked where Colonel Baird was.

It seemed to take a long time before Flynn had answers, but as Parker watched him thinking over the possibilities, she was reminded of Nate, only perhaps a little less scary-intense. He was definitely very much like the Mastermind Parker had learnt so much from as he began firing out theories and instructions from left and right.

It hadn’t taken long for everything to get figured out, a couple of hours maybe, that was all. Flynn explained that he most definitely had not sent a note to Baird asking her to join him, which meant somebody else wanted to get Guardian out of the way, presumably the same person who sent the intruders to attack The Library. Then conversation turned briefly to Prospero and the Fictionals, which sounded to Parker like it ought to be a rock band or something. She didn’t bother to ask for any further explanation, she was really only interested in the parts of the conversation that had to do with bringing Eliot back to life, or whatever.

“Okay, so for as long as the intruders are locked up, let’s leave them be. One problem at a time,” Flynn had said. “For your brother, you’re going to need the Mirror of Morpheus, which I believe is in the Greek antiquities room, south west corner, third podium from the door.”

“Perfect recall, as always, sir,” Jenkins had congratulated him. “I’ll go and collect it for you now.”

Before the caretaker had even left the room, Flynn had begun scribbling instructions onto a piece of paper, thrusting them into Jake’s hands the moment he was done.

“Cassie, will be faster with the math than I,” he told his fellow Librarian, slapping him on the shoulder. “I wish you luck, Stone.”

“Luck? Where you going?” he asked, looking bemused.

It was funny to see. His face was so similar to Eliot’s but Parker had never seen an expression like that on her friend’s face. He was never so confused, never rattled. Well, maybe once, but she’d rather not remember.

“Eve went looking for me,” Flynn said guilty. “So, it’s up to me to bring her home.”

“We can help with that,” said Jones then, sidling up to Hardison. “I mean, we found you, so why not?”

“Yes, you did. How is that?”

“Double the hacker, double the power,” said Hardison with a smirk.

“Age of the geek,” Jones agreed, holding up his hand for a high five that his new buddy happily went with.

Parker smiled at the sight. It was cute, but the happy expression was gone the moment she thought of Eliot again. She really needed to help him. The next moment, Flynn was gone, Jenkins was back, carrying an ornate hand mirror that looked as if it was entirely made of onyx with maybe a little silver thrown in, and Jones and Hardison were back to their hacking.

“Okay, so now we help Eliot?” asked Parker urgently.

“I guess so,” said Jake, handing off Flynn’s instructions to Cassie and reaching to take the Mirror of Morpheus from Jenkins - Parker noticed his hand was shaking as he took hold of it.

“This doesn’t look too complicated actually,” said Cassie, reading from the paper she now held. “At least, not the first part.”

“Then let’s go already,” said Parker, stalking back down the corridor to where Eliot lay waiting yet.

Now it was five minutes later, Jake and Cassie had caught up to her, and a spell was about to be performed. Parker wanted to be excited about the magic, but she wasn’t. She was antsy after being still and confined too long. The one person who understood that part of her personality best was probably Eliot, and most especially now.

“Okay,” said Cassie, taking the mirror from Jake’s hands and moving closer to the bed where Eliot lay. “So, we hold this here,” she said, positioning the glass near Eliot’s head, “and we speak the words.”

“I don’t like this,” Jake admitted, “but I guess we don’t have a choice.”

Taking a deep breath, Cassie tried not to feel the pressure, and started to recite the Greek words Flynn had advised.

Parker didn’t understand a word of what she said, and wondered if the things Jake said right after was even Greek. It just sounded Southern to her, like every accent that Eliot ever tried when they went undercover on jobs. She might have laughed if now wasn’t such a serious moment.

“I think it’s working,” said Cassie suddenly.

Parker moved in closer behind the two Librarians to see. There in the mirror, darkness swirled, and then clouds seemed to literally part, revealing an apartment that Parker knew so well.

“What is that?” asked Jake, frowning into the glass.

“Boston,” she told him, eyes fixed on the image. “That’s the apartment above John McRory’s Place. It’s where we worked before Portland, all five of us. Nate actually lived there, but why is the mirror showing that?”

“It’s where Eliot is,” Cassie explained. “Well, it’s the place he thinks he is. The dream he’s trapped in. At least we know it is a dream and not a nightmare,” she said, looking at Jake. “That’s good.”

“If it is a dream,” he said, looking at Parker and watching tears fill her eyes. “Parker, what happened there? Something bad?”

“Good things, bad things. We worked there, all kinds of things happened!” she said crossly, swiping at her tears before she actually gave in and really cried, again. “So, now we know what he’s dreaming about, what do we do about it? It’s no use knowing what’s in his head if we still can’t wake him up.”

“The mirror isn’t just for us to see where he is, though it does give us some idea of what we’re dealing with before we dive in,” Cassandra explained.

“Dive in?” Parker echoed.

“Literally dive in.” Jacob nodded. “These calculations, they need finishing up,” he said, showing Parker the paper Flynn had left behind, “but when Cassie’s done with them, we should be able to use the system from Jenkin’s door, hook it up to the mirror and... and walk into Eliot’s dream.”

“It sounds crazy, we know,” said Cassandra. “Honestly, it’s a freaky concept even for us - and we’ve been turned into fairytale characters and battled a minotaur - but it might be the only way to wake Eliot,” she explained.

“Okay,” said Parker, nodding once. “Just tell me when to jump.”

“It ain’t that simple,” Jacob advised. “We’re talking about serious magic here, and the kind of thing we’ve never done before. There’s a chance if we go in, we don’t come out,” he said seriously.

Parker glanced at Eliot for a split second and then looked back at his brother, meeting his eyes without pause.

“Just tell me when to jump,” she repeated, before turning on her heel and walking away.

* * *

“She really cares about him,” said Cassandra in a low voice, even as she performed complex calculations on the board before her that only she could see. “If I didn’t know any better...”

“I know,” Jake agreed, without needing her to say more. “She’s hell-bent on coming with me, so I guess I’ll have to take her. At least if Eliot’s dreaming a time when he worked with her, she should be able to slip in without it seeming weird, and hey, I’m his brother, I can visit. It worked out in reality, I figure it will in the dream world too.”

“How are we going to explain me?” she asked, finishing off her calculations and writing down the numbers that would be needed.

“Cassie, you’re staying here,” said Jake, continuing fast before she could protest, he’d already seen her open her mouth to do so. “I need you to be here. If something goes wrong, or this doesn’t work at all, I need somebody I trust to... I need you here,” he said definitely.

Cassandra couldn’t breathe, but despite the seriousness of the situation, she could smile. It was impossible to keep herself from doing so, actually. She and Jacob had got along from the beginning, but he had problems with trusting her, and she knew why. Now it seemed all her efforts to regain that trust had not been in vain. She was to be his anchor now, his fail-safe too. It was a huge responsibility in a lot of ways, but that was okay. He trusted her and there was no way she would let him down again.

“Okay,” she said eventually. “If this is where you need me, this is where I’ll be.”

“Thank you, Cassie,” said Jake, his hand on her arm for a moment, before he moved away.

“I don’t like this, mama,” Hardison was telling Parker as he walked over to them. “This whole mirror mojo stuff, it don’t sound right.”

“It does if you know magic,” Jake advised. “Now, I know you two have had my brother’s back these past few years.”

“Mostly he’s had ours,” Parker corrected.

“Either way, you guys were a team, a family. I get that, but this is something I can do for Eliot. I owe him, and I’m not gonna fail him now,” he said definitely.

“We’re not going to fail,” said Parker, a further correction to his speech. “We can’t.”

“The door is ready,” said Jenkins then. “I’ve calibrated it as per Mr Carsen’s instructions using Miss Cillian’s calculations. As long as the wires connecting the Mirror of Morpheus positioned in Mr Spencer’s room to the mechanism here remain undisturbed, the door will remain active as a way in and out of the dream in which he remains trapped.”

“And all we gotta do is convince him he wants to wake up, without freaking him out too much,” said Jake, looking to Parker. “You ready for this?”

She barely glanced at him, before pelting through the doors without any kind of warning. Jake was astounded and looked back at Hardison in shock.

“She don’t ever wait for the count, man,” he said with just a hint of a smile, though it was gone from his face in the blink of an eye. “You better watch her back in there, man, and fix my man Eliot, or I’m coming in there after you, no matter how much it freaks me the hell out.”

Jake nodded once, then turned around and charged after Parker without a backward glance. He came crashing through the invisible barrier and ran almost straight into Parker’s back just inside an actual door. He was about to ask her what the hell she was doing when he realised where they were.

This wasn’t the apartment they had seen in the mirror, but presumably the bar underneath. Jake opened his mouth to ask as much, but Parker didn’t give him the chance.

“I’m going upstairs. You stay here,” she instructed.

“Hey, wait a second,” he said, grabbing her arm. He dropped it the second she looked back at him as if she was ready to do damage. “Shouldn’t we stick together?”

“If Eliot sees you it’s going to get complicated. I belong with the team, nobody is going to act weird around me. Once I figure out what’s going on, I can come back and tell you, then we’ll figure out how to wake Eliot up.”

“That actually makes sense,” Jake considered. “Except, what if you’re already up there. You know, the dream version of you.”

“I’m not,” said Parker, pointing out through the back door. “I just left.”

She was off and moving before Jake could blink. It was deliberate on Parker’s part. Honestly, she just wanted to get this fixed and go home, to the real world, with Eliot awake and everything normal.

Strangely, this actually did feel normal, as Parker climbed the stairs to Nate’s old apartment. It would be so easy to think she was back where she belonged so many years ago. She hit the landing and opened up the door to such a familiar scene, Nate and Hardison on the couch, bickering over the stats on the screen, Sophie taking a phone call from what might’ve been Tara given what Parker could hear of this side of it, and then there was Eliot in the kitchen, cooking dinner.

It was so good to see him, Parker couldn’t help but bound on over, hopping up onto the counter top with a grin on her face.

“Hey,” she greeted him cheerfully.

“Hey, sweetheart,” said Eliot, beaming up at her. “I thought you were headed out?”

“I changed my mind,” she said quickly, staring at him. “You’re okay, right?”

“Always, babe. C’mere,” he said, reaching a hand up behind her head and pulling her closer.

Parker was startled, but tried not to let it show as Eliot pressed his lips to hers and kissed her soundly. Yeah, this part was not so familiar.


	6. Chapter 6

Parker really wasn’t sure what to make of this world inside of Eliot’s head. Most things seemed to be just exactly the same as she remembered from Team Leverage’s days in Boston, but with one major difference - she and Eliot seemed to be a couple. What bothered Parker the most was probably how much it didn’t bother her at all. Of all people, Eliot was the one she always trusted and was so certain of, despite his reputation. From almost the very beginning, she never flinched when he touched her or minded when he called her crazy or strange. On some level, they just got each other, which made her wonder why it hadn’t occurred to her sooner that they might have made a connection just exactly as they had here. Clearly, it had occurred to Eliot. After all, this was all happening inside his head.

“I think this one’s gonna be pretty easy, Nate,” said Hardison from the armchair. “Well, for us anyhow.” He grinned.

“Come on, Hardison,” Sophie urged him. “Can’t we at least take Sunday off? It’s been a very long week and some of us would like to embrace the day of rest for once,” she said, leaning further into Nate’s embrace on the couch.

“She has a point, Hardison,” he agreed, kissing the top of Sophie’s head.

Parker watched the scene from near the kitchen table which she was supposed to be setting for dinner. Eliot was still cooking yet but had said the food wouldn’t be much longer. Still, Parker had found herself distracted by her friends.

Nate and Sophie were so cute, like a perfectly relaxed and in love couple that they had never quite managed to be for as long as the team were in operation, especially not when they were here in Boston. Now they were happily married and Parker assumed behaved this way all the time, but Eliot had inserted that happiness into this earlier scene. It made Parker smile, she couldn’t help it.

“Hey, you okay, mama?” asked Hardison appearing before her, and almost managing to startle the unstartleable Parker. “I mean, it’s all good to see you smiling and all, but you kinda spaced out for a minute.”

“I’m fine,” she promised, shaking her head to clear it. “I was just thinking about how happy Nate and Sophie look.”

“Well, they is happy,” Hardison noted. “Between those two and you and Eliot, it’s almost enough to make a man feel like the fifth wheel.”

“Which you are never,” Eliot assured him as he came over with a bowl of salad to add to the table. “I told you, man, this is a family first. Doesn’t matter who’s dating who.”

“I got you, brother,” his friend promised, the two guys sharing their usual hand-slap, fist-bump combo that Parker loved to see.

They really were like brothers, as they had been in real life for a long time. Things got strange later, when Parker and Hardison got serious, after Nate and Sophie were gone. Here was better, and Parker could easily see why Eliot had dreamed it up. The best of both worlds, everybody happy and content, a family but with those in love free to show it. Jobs they could handle, no terrible danger. For all she knew, it was always a lazy Sunday here inside Eliot’s head. Parker was pretty sure she could live with that too.

“You sure you’re okay, babe?” he asked her, his hand on her shoulder.

“Very okay,” she promised as she met his eyes. “This is a happy place.”

“It’s a very happy place,” he told her with a rare smile, before kissing her briefly on the lips.

Parker didn’t even flinch. Though she never had when Eliot touched her she considered that his kissing her like that ought to be different. It wasn’t. In fact, she really, really liked it. She liked the way he was here, always smiling and happy. It was impossible for him to be that way in the real world. There was always some danger or badness to deal with, always trouble. Not here.

Parker knew she came here with a purpose, that none of this was real and, in the end, she had to get Eliot to snap out of it, but just for today, she thought she might stay. What harm could it do, just to live in the dream with Eliot and her home-made family for a few hours more?

There was a sudden knock on the door. Eliot wiped his hands on a dishtowel and pulled off his apron, moving to see who was there. That familiar moment of concern gripped Parker and was evident on the faces of all her team-mates. There was always the worry that someone was coming for them, a bad guy they had once put down or one of their associates. It was why Eliot usually answered the door.

“Hey, brother,” said a voice that only Parker recognised. “’S been a long time.”

There was a moment when Eliot seemed to have turned to stone, he was so still, and then in a second, he moved forward and pulled Jacob into a rib-crushing hug.

“Damnit, Jake,” he said, holding onto him still. “You’re the last person I expected to see.”

Parker shook her head and put herself into motion. She really should’ve remembered that she left Jake downstairs waiting, but she honestly forgot. It had been so easy to get caught up in the family scene, the happiness and easy-going circumstances. Seeing Jake was a reminder that none of this was actually real, that they came here with for a reason. It was even more strange to realise that the brothers were now having almost the exact conversation they had in the brew pub back in real-world Portland a few days ago.

“What? A guy can’t come visit his big brother?” said Jake as they came into the apartment.

“Yeah, a guy can do that,” said Eliot, smiling big. “It’s real good to see you.”

“You too.” Jake nodded.

“Hey, Parker. You remember I told you about my brother?”

It took her unawares to hear him say that. In reality, Eliot never had mentioned a brother to her at all, but she guessed maybe with them being closer than ever in this dream place, he probably had. She tried to remember her part in all this, Eliot’s girlfriend who knew about Jake as a person but who wasn’t supposed to have met him, despite the fact that she actually had. It was all giving Parker a sudden headache.

“Cracking safes is easier than this,” she muttered to herself as she came over to join Eliot and his brother. “So, you’re Jacob” she said, smiling a little too much.

“That would be me,” Jake confirmed. “Pleasure to meet you.”

They shook hands, and then Eliot introduced his brother around to the rest of the team. It was all very civilised and nice, but the moment they got the chance, Jake and Parker were sharing looks that were not altogether friendly. She wasn’t exactly happy that he had walked in and spoilt her day, but then he wasn’t entirely pleased to have been left downstairs not knowing what was going on either.

As long as they were amongst the team, neither could say a word about it, but later, when Eliot talked about heading downstairs, they thought they might get their chance.

“You’re staying, right?” he asked Jake. “I mean, we’ve got the room”

He looked at Parker when he said it and she found she was only mildly surprised to note he was implying they lived together. Wow.

“Sure, I can stay,” Jake agreed. “You live far from here?”

“You wanna tell him, or should I?” Eliot asked Parker.

She shrugged her shoulders, knowing there were no words she could say. Of course, she had to make it look as if she wasn’t quite as shocked as Jacob when they took the elevator down only one floor before Eliot declared they were home. The apartment directly underneath Nate’s stood before them and Eliot opened up the door, revealing what was apparently his own place, or more precisely, his and Parker’s place.

“I’ll go fix up the spare room,” Eliot offered. “Parker’ll give you the guided tour if you ask real nice,” he told Jake with a grin before he disappeared from sight.

The moment they were left alone, Parker and Jacob jumped at the chance to discuss what had happened so far, and perhaps more importantly, what had to happen next.

“We gotta wake him up from this place,” said Jacob in a low voice as he seemingly allowed Parker to give him a tour of the apartment.

“Why?” she asked in an angry whisper. “It’s a nice place.” 

Jake watched her looking around at what was supposed to be her home here and he sighed. As if he hadn’t noticed before the special connection that seemed to exist between his brother and Parker. They may have only spent a few hours together on two different days before all hell broke loose, but it took all of five minutes to notice what was between them. It was more than friendship, and not at all like brother and sister either. That was some deep and meaningful love that they were feeling, at least he had been sure Parker was, in her own strange way. Eliot was always tough to read, even for his brother, but it didn’t take a genius to figure it out anymore. Here they were inside a world that Eliot’s own mind had constructed. Not a regular dream that might’ve been random in some ways, but a magical realm that was, to all intents and purposes, his perfect life, and Parker was his live-in girlfriend.

“He can’t stay in here,” said Jake anyway. “We can’t either. This is not the real world.”

“It could be,” Parker realised aloud, “or it could’ve been... I didn’t even know this apartment existed.”

“Maybe it doesn’t.” Jacob shook his head. “This ain’t Boston. It’s inside Eliot’s head. He could’ve made the whole thing up. He changed you, didn’t he?”

“Not much,” Parker insisted. “If he had he would’ve noticed by now that I’m not the other me,” she said, frowning some when she was done, as if she had confused herself.

Jake wouldn’t have been surprised if she had. He was feeling a little weird about it all himself. Staying in an apartment inside his brother’s head, it wasn’t something he ever thought he would be doing, even after he discovered all the magical secrets of the library.

“You’re all set,” said Eliot as he returned to them. “Bed’s made, junk’s cleared out. There’s towels in the hall closet and you can even have first turn in the bathroom.”

“Always the gentleman,” said Jake with a smile. “Momma’d be proud,” he said, patting Eliot on the shoulder as he headed to the room he would call his own tonight.

Parker watched him go and then looked to Eliot. He was smiling at her, which was nice, but also a little unnerving. She had seen that smile before, when he was charming women in the bar or even as part of a job. She’d just never seen it pointed at her before.

“You don’t mind him being here, right?”

“Of course not,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s your brother.”

“Yeah, he is. I know it’s a long time since we saw each other but... well, it means a lot to me that he’s here, and that you like him.”

“Of course I like him. What’s not to like? I mean, I like you better, obviously,” she said, giggling nervously, wondering at the sound as it came from her own lips.

“Well, I’m not sorry to hear that,” said Eliot, putting his arms around her then.

It should’ve felt weird. Parker expected it to, but somehow it seemed oddly natural just to let her own hands slide up Eliot’s shoulders and meet behind his neck. Of course, when he moved in to kiss her in what seemed like it was going to be a really serious way, that was a whole other ballgame.

“Today’s been nice,” she said fast. “Um, hanging out with the team, meeting your brother. Fun day,” she said, grinning too wide.

“Yeah, I guess,” he agreed, “but I gotta admit, I never had a problem being alone, just you and me.”

One hand slid up to brush strands of hair from her face as he met her eyes, and Parker stopped wondering how it was that so many women had just melted when Eliot Spencer looked at them like that. She always liked him, had loved him a long time now, though she had never really thought too hard about what form that love took. She had dreams about what it would be like to be closer to him this way, but always laughed them off by the light of day. She couldn’t do that now. Either Parker played the part of the girlfriend Eliot believed her to be in this make-believe world, or she had to run, right now.

“You okay?” he checked, her expression clearly giving away the muddled thoughts inside her mind.

“Yeah,” she said, nodding slowly. “I’m just tired, I think.”

“I guess we should get some sleep. If Nate and Hardison get the details figured out on that job, the next few days are probably gonna get pretty intense, especially if Jake is planning on staying too. I don’t want him in harm’s way.”

Parker nodded her understanding, just relieved that Eliot had stopped looking at her in that intense way that made her knees want to buckle. At the same time, it was almost a shame when the moment seemed to be gone, however wrong it might be for her to think so. Technically, in the real world, she was still with Hardison, kind of.

“Come on, babe,” said Eliot then, planting a gentle kiss on her lips. “Let’s call it a night.”

He had one arm around her still as he walked towards the bedroom and she went with him out of momentum as much as anything else. Parker was pretty sure she could handle sleeping alongside Eliot tonight. She had nothing to fear from him, she never had, but it would be odd, she supposed. Strange then that she would soon find herself as comfortable as she had ever been her whole life, and getting the best night’s sleep she had known in too long.


	7. Chapter 7

“Miss Cillian?”

Cassandra jumped three feet in the air when Mr Jenkins laid his hand on her shoulder. His words were so softly spoken and his approach just as quiet, plus Cassie was so deep in thought that she had no idea he was there until he touched her.

“I’m so sorry,” he apologised anyway, clearly feeling terrible for startling her.

“No, it’s not your fault,” she promised. “I was practically in another world,” she admitted, considering those words in the very next moment and regretting every one. “Well, not really another world. Not like some people.”

“I’m sure Mr Stone and Miss Parker are quite alright. Though Mr Spencer, by reputation, probably could have untold horrors living in his head, his dreams that have been observed via the mirror are perfectly safe at present.”

“At present.” Cassandra nodded. “I just hope that they’re being careful. You know as well as I do that if they, or anyone else, manages to wake Eliot at the wrong moment, the consequences could be catastrophic. If they’re not near the door and can’t get out in time...”

“I know.” Jenkins nodded, not willing to say the words any more than she was. “I also know that you care a great deal for Mr Stone.”

“It’s not... I don’t... I mean...” Cassandra struggled for the right words, frowning hard when she failed to find them.

“As I thought,” said Jenkins, with a knowing look. “Rest assured, Miss Cillian, if there is one thing that Mr Stone can find to fight his way back here for, it would undoubtedly be you.”

With that, he walked away, leaving a slightly stunned but smiling Cassandra in his wake. She really did hope that everything was okay inside of Eliot’s dream, and there was one sentence she never thought she would be thinking seriously. As Mr Jenkins said, the pictures in the mirror were all fine, no monsters, no bloodshed, nothing horrific occurring. At least Jake’s brother was having a nice dream and not some terrible nightmare. Thank heaven for small mercies, she supposed, but that couldn’t stop her worrying altogether. That would not happen until Jake, and Parker too, were home safe again.

“Cassie!” Ezekiel called as he came pelting into the room, grinning when he found her. “We’re pretty sure we’ve found Baird!” he told her happily.

“Well, that’s one less thing to worry about.”

* * *

Parker woke very suddenly, unsure what had startled her. Actually, for the first few moments, she wasn’t entirely certain where she was at all, and yet she didn’t panic. There was a complete feeling of calm washing over her, even when she realised she was being held firmly onto the bed by a strong arm curled around her body. She knew that arm, and the presence of the man behind her, without ever opening her eyes or turning her head. Parker smiled as she recalled just exactly where she was.

Turning over carefully, she gazed at Eliot who slept still. She was surprised that he didn’t wake up the moment she moved, but then he probably knew, just as she did, that this was a safe place.

It might be strange yet to consider herself as Eliot’s girlfriend, or more over that he would want to think of her that way in some dream world he created for himself, but the safety aspect, the trust, the affection, that was always there and not weird in the least.

They only slept last night, nothing more, nothing less. They hadn’t even fallen asleep like this, with his arm around her, not because Parker in any way made it plain she didn’t want him to hold her, just because they hadn’t. Now she was starting to wonder why not. After all, she wasn’t cheating if anything happened here, was she? This was all a dream, after all. Not real.

There was a voice in the back of Parker’s head that sounded a lot like Sophie, and it was warning her against doing something very foolish. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on the point of view, the urge Parker had to shift a little closer and lay her lips on Eliot’s own drowned out any sort of conscience-type voice or similar that she might be hearing.

She was just playing a part. Parker had to sell it, had to have Eliot believing she was the same version of herself as he dreamt up before. If she didn’t want to be close, he might get suspicious, and they needed him to trust both her and Jake if they were going to convince him about this whole magical dream situation later.

Gently, Parker kissed Eliot, once, twice, then again. Slowly, he began to stir, waking to the feeling of her lips moving against his own, and beginning to respond even before his eyes finally opened.

“Morning,” he mumbled against her lips.

“Hi,” she replied, meaning to stop with the kissing now he was awake, but when his grip tightened on her body and he pulled her ever closer, she forgot why.

As Eliot’s tongue plundered her mouth and his hands ran over her skin, Parker felt her whole body becoming electrified. This was too good and too much, she almost couldn’t stand it, and yet she couldn’t bear to stop it either. Unfortunately, other people were quite prepared to do exactly that.

“Hey, El?” a voice called, accompanied by a rapping on the door.

Eliot looked dazed when they parted and Parker could well understand it. God only knew how far things would’ve gone if not for Jake’s interruption. Of course, now that she thought on it, Parker wasn’t altogether sure why Eliot looked confused. In his dream, she supposed this situation ought to be normal.

There was no time to wonder about it now as Eliot hopped out of bed and threw on his jeans. Parker followed suit, wriggling into her shirt and pants right before Eliot pulled open the door to reveal an anxious looking Jacob on the other side.

“Sorry for disturbing... whatever I was disturbing,” he said awkwardly. “Er, the phone was ringing off the hook. I didn’t know if I should answer or not, and now somebody’s pounding on the door.”

Eliot rolled his eyes and moved past his brother to go see what was happening.

Parker looked up in time to see him disappear, then caught Jake staring at her with wide eyes. She didn’t like knowing why he was staring that way. He knew the truth that this version of Eliot seemed immune to. She had a boyfriend back in the real world, technically anyway. Poor Hardison, he didn’t deserve to be treated this way, but for as long as they were inside Eliot’s dream, the Hardison here was just happy for his friends who had found their own happiness together. If only it could’ve been like that in reality.

“Nothing happened,” she told Jake, shaking her head. “Nothing serious anyway... at least, I don’t think so.”

“Hey, I’m not judgin’,” he replied, hands raised in mock surrender. “I figure this place is kinda like Vegas. What happens here, stays here. I’m not entirely sure you can be held responsible.”

“Maybe not,” Parker considered. “If I act differently to what Eliot expects, he’ll just get suspicious.”

“Well, I figure since El’s the one controlling this whole thing, at least the version of you he made up before won’t come back so long as you’re with him.”

Parker frowned at that, clearly not following the logic.

“He invented the dream Parker in his head,” Jacob reminded her. “Now you’re actually here, he doesn’t need her anymore.”

“Right.” Parker nodded once. “But keep your voice down about that. We don’t want Eliot knowing what’s up until we’re ready to tell him.”

“And when we do, we need to be by that door in the bar,” said Jacob with a knowing look. “We screw this up-”

“Me and my team don’t screw things up,” Parker cut in quickly.

“Mine either,” Jake countered. “So, are we gonna get this thing done?”

Parker listened for a moment, not to Eliot’s brother but farther afield in the living room. It was Hardison at the door, saying something about Nate and a plan.

“Not now,” she said, refocusing her eyes on Jake. “Sounds like we have a job to do.”

She moved to go past him out of the bedroom, but his hand on her arm stopped her. It was a miracle she had enough control not to turn and punch... or stab.

“Parker, there’s no job,” Jake reminded her. “Only whatever El made up in his head. This place, it’s not real, remember?”

Of course she remembered. Parker wasn’t stupid, but quite honestly it was easy to forget that it was literally all a dream. Staying here like this really did appeal on so many levels. Being back with the whole team, working together, Nate and Sophie in love, Hardison happy, and Parker herself in a pretty serious relationship with Eliot. She didn’t even mind having Jacob here. She didn’t know him all that well yet, but Eliot seemed pleased to have his brother around, and Parker would admit that it wasn’t so bad having two guys that looked like that to stare at.

Shaking her head, she pushed past Jake into the living room to find Eliot talking to Nate about the new job they were supposed to take on. Parker knew it wasn’t real, that walking away and leaving the con incomplete didn’t matter. This was not the real world, she could walk out at any time. The problem was that all she really wanted to do right now, what would really simple things up, would be to stay here, forever.

* * *

“Hardison? Hardison!” Jones physically poked the guy in the shoulder since yelling his name had failed to work.

“Say what, now?” he asked, shaking his head. “Sorry, man, I was...”

“You were worrying about Parker, right?” said Ezekiel, attempting a sympathetic look and failing anyway. “I get it. Well, actually, I don’t really, but you really shouldn’t worry either way. We’re talking about Parker. That woman is a legend! She’s the only thief in the world that might be better at what she does than me.”

“You’re damn skippy!”

“Then why would you be worried? You guys have been in tighter spots than being inside your own friend’s dream, right?”

Hardison turned wide eyes on Jones at that remark. How anybody could ask a question like that and mean it like it was normal, he just couldn’t figure out. Of course, he didn’t belong in a world of magic like The Librarians did. Closest Hardison came to all of that was playing World of Warcraft or watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

“Er, your Guardian is on the move again,” he said, as something pinged on the computer screen. “Hopefully she’s headed somewhere in range so we can get some kinda signal or message to her. Right now, even my best equipment ain’t cutting it.”

It was easier to concentrate on finding Eve Baird or keeping an eye on Flynn Carsen than to think about Parker or even Eliot. Right now, Hardison’s team lay in tatters around him, and even if he did get the gang back together in time, he still wondered how much of a team they could really be after all this.

Things between him and Parker had been rocky for a while and he knew it. It was just pretty tough to admit. Of course, what he saw in that mirror in Eliot’s room a while back threw a whole new spin on everything.

Still, the priority was getting everybody back safe, both his team and The Librarians too. After that, they could figure everything else out, no matter how difficult it turned out to be.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for Eliot to learn the truth...

“I’m pretty sure you can’t hear me. I mean, people in comas have been known to be perfectly aware of everything going on around them while they’re asleep. The brain is a complex tool after all, but this is very different.”

Cassandra caught herself rambling and shook her head. If Eliot could hear her, she was probably overloading his brain with unnecessary information right now and that was no good to anyone.

“Of course, if you’re having that really intense dream experience still, I guess maybe you can’t hear, or somebody in that world is speaking my words... maybe even me,” she considered aloud. “After all, we have met. Your brain would have sufficient data to at least recreate my physical appearance and vocals to a reasonable degree.”

Cassie stopped herself again and sighed.

“I’m really not helping, am I? I wish I was but quite honestly, I just feel very, very useless right now. Not a feeling I’m used to. I’m guessing this kind of thing would make you as antsy as it makes me, at least from what Jake has told me. You’re all action guy and I know I don’t exactly come off as action girl but I do like to be doing something, most of the time. Something useful, helpful.”

Cassie hesitated a moment and then decided she may as well try to offer any physical comfort she could as well as the vocal kind, putting her hand on top of Eliot’s own. As much as he was probably still trapped in a dream world of his own making, it had to be better if his physical body was kept in a calm state, Cassie supposed. This kind of thing was so unprecedented, there was such limited data to extrapolate from, mostly she was working on guesses and basic common sense. Cassandra liked it better when she had real words and numbers to reply upon, hard facts that couldn’t fail her.

It was twenty-four hours now since Jacob and Parker had stepped through the magic door into Eliot’s dream. The mechanism that powered the door was hooked up to the Mirror of Morpheus still, and would have to be, until the dream walkers returned. It made things tougher when it came to getting Baird or even Flynn back to The Annex as and when the time came, but nothing was worth the risk of severing the connection and losing Jake and Parker forever.

Cassandra’s eyes welled up at the very idea of losing Jake, even at the idea of losing Eliot, who looked so much like him. She had cared about her fellow Librarians, as well as their Guardian, from the very beginning, but Jake was special. What she felt for him was different, though she had refused to put a label on it, especially back when he was having so much trouble in trusting her. Cassie couldn’t bear to allow herself to believe they could even be real friends for a long time, and now she was starting to dare to think they might even be more some day. Jake said he trusted her. He gave her the task of being his anchor, his safety net if things should go wrong, the one to help his brother if the worst should happen and he couldn’t do so himself.

“It’s going to be okay,” she said, as much to herself as to Eliot. “They’re both smart and strong in their own ways, right?” she said of Jake and Parker, forcing a smile onto her lips even if he couldn’t see it. “Eliot, you know as well as I do that they’ll be fine, don’t you?”

She gasped when she realised he might actually have heard her words then. His hand moved just a little under her own and when she glanced into the mirror by his head, she was amazed to see Jake standing at a bar with Parker beside him. They were in McRory’s Place in Boston, or a facsimile of it that existed in Eliot’s brain anyway. The door home was right there, they just had to convince Eliot to wake and then run on through. Cassie couldn’t bear to sit watching and waiting, though she said a silent prayer to whomever was listening that they made it work somehow. Then she rose from her seat, telling Eliot she would see him soon and planted a friendly kiss on his cheek, before walking away.

* * *

“You know I’m glad you came here, Jake, and I wanna find time to catch up, but this job-”

“I know you have a job to do, El,” said Jake, sharing a look with Parker that he hoped his brother didn’t notice, “but there’s something I gotta tell you about. Something serious.”

The frown on Eliot’s face was a little too familiar and the way he looked between Jake and Parker was just a little bit worrying. He might’ve been known the world over for his brawn but Eliot had brains too. He had got out of a lot of situations over the years by being smarter than anybody ever thought possible. People underestimated him. Jake wasn’t so dumb as to do that.

“What’s going on?” asked Eliot, eyes narrowing some.

“We’re not really here,” Parker blurted out.

Jake face-palmed. She really was the most all-out blunt person he ever met in his whole life and while Eliot seemed to love that about her, amongst other things, this situation did require at least a little bit of tact and diplomacy.

“Parker, what are you talking about?” her boyfriend asked her. “Damnit, Hardison!” he exclaimed then, slamming a hand on the bar. “I told him not to let you watch The Matrix, I knew you would believe that crap-”

“El, come on. This has nothing to do with a movie,” Jake assured him. “It has to do with... magic.”

The moment he said the word, he knew what to expect. Eliot’s expression went from mildly frustrated to all out angry and pained at the same time. Jacob hated doing this to his brother, but there was no way around it. They had to talk about the one subject that never sat well with Eliot, for reasons that Jake understood better than most. It was the only way.

“Jake, if you’re messin’ around with that stuff, then I can’t have you around here.”

“I’m not messing with anything, El, but this place, this bar, the apartments upstairs, even the people... they’re not real.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Parker chimed in. “Your brother came to see us in Portland, we went to The Library, and then you got knocked out,” she rattled out. “Now you’re dreaming. It’s all a dream.”

The last part came out so sad, it shocked Jake into silence just when he had been about to yell at her. So much for breaking the news gently, she just punched Eliot in the face with a whole load of information that he probably wouldn’t react well to. Of course, when she told him it was all a dream, she sounded just about as upset about that as anybody ever could be. If it hadn’t been clear before that the strange thief and Jake’s brother were destined to be together, it surely was now.

“I don’t have time for games,” said Eliot, drinking down the last of his beer and getting up to leave.

Parker grabbed a hold of his arm and he glanced back at her. She had tears in her eyes, a sight that would always break a piece of Eliot’s heart clean away. He hated to see any woman cry, but most especially his Parker. Maybe this wasn’t a game or a joke, but it sure as hell didn’t make any sense.

“Your cousin got caught up in bad magic. I know, you told me,” she explained, not bothering to keep her voice down, not least because anybody who heard her here wasn’t real anyway, it was all in Eliot’s head. “Jacob works for The Library, with a bunch of good people who use good magic,” she assured him.

“The Library?” Eliot echoed, turning to look at Jake and frowning hard again. “Did I... Should I know that?”

“Yeah, El, you should.” Jake nodded. “What Parker said was true. When I showed up at the apartment yesterday, you thought we hadn’t seen each other in years, but we did. We saw each other in a brew pub in Portland, it’s where you live now. This place it was a piece of your past that I’m pretty sure you weren’t ready to let go of.”

“It was real,” Parker insisted, moving to stand by Jake so Eliot could stop swinging his head back and forth when each of them spoke. “This place, we did work from here, but... but you and me, that never happened,” she admitted, shaking her head, setting one tear free to roll down her cheek at last.

“We never happened,” Eliot echoed, looking as confused as he probably felt.

“It’s okay, man,” Jake assured his brother, a hand on his shoulder. “You’re okay. Just tell me, you know what year it is?”

Eliot frowned harder, to the point where he almost seemed to be in physical pain. He clearly didn’t have any concept of time, he didn’t need it here. Dreams didn’t run by a clock or a calendar, they just were what they were and that was it, until a person woke up.

“Eliot, it’s okay,” Parker assured him, stepping into his personal space.

As was usual for her, she was acting on instinct. She knew that for as long as they were here he saw her as his girlfriend, he loved her in a way she never dared to dream he could, and she was pretty sure she felt the same. What happened back in reality, she had no idea, but here was safe, here she could say and do whatever she wanted, because Eliot was unlikely to remember when he woke anyway.

“I know it’s weird and leaving here is... well, I remember the last time,” she said, smiling slightly as her eyes scanned the make-believe bar with every detail as precise as the original. “This life you built in your head is great, I’d love to stay, but we can’t. We have to go. You have to wake up.”

“I’m awake,” he told her, shaking his head. “Parker, I don’t-”

“Yes, you do,” she told him, her hand at his cheek. “You know what happened. It’s somewhere in your head, and you’re smart, Eliot, you can do this. Remember The Library, remember the fight, and how you got knocked out. You’re still there. You’re in The Library and this is just magic. You have to wake up or it’ll hold onto you forever and... and I don’t know what that’ll mean but I don’t think it’ll be anything good.”

“She’s right, El,” said Jake, not loving that he had to interrupt but knowing Parker couldn’t do this alone. “You have to let the dream go, come back to reality.”

It was clear Eliot’s head was swimming with thoughts and ideas, everything his brother and supposed-girlfriend were saying and a bunch of other things he thought he knew besides.

He wasn’t stupid, he did know magic existed. He also knew there was good magic and bad magic. The things that were vague to Eliot still was talk of a brew pub in Portland and a world where he and Parker weren’t as close as they were here. It couldn’t be true, but deep down inside, somehow, he knew it was. Besides, of all the people in the world, Jake wouldn’t lie to him, Parker wouldn’t lie to him.

“It’s a dream?” he said, meeting her eyes.

Parker nodded, swallowing hard. She had no words to give him anymore and hoped all that had already been said was enough. Only when Eliot closed his eyes a moment, did she realise it was true. The people in the bar flickered and faded out of existence all around them, then the barstools, one by one.

Parker gasped and turned in Eliot’s arms to look at Jacob.

“It’s happening,” he said, glancing back at the door, even as the wall either side of it started to flicker. “He’s waking up. Parker, we gotta go.”

“I’m right behind you,” she told him, nodding her head, then turning back to face Eliot.

His eyes were open again now, but he looked to be in pain somehow. She hated that so much, but there was little she could do here. To help him now she had to leave him, this version at least, and run towards the real Eliot, lying helpless in The Library Annex yet.

“Parker!” Jake yelled from the door.

“Just go!” she told him, not even bothering to look.

Eliot glanced over her shoulder and watched his brother leave, his eyes going a little wide at the sight of a strange blue light beyond the door of McRory’s, but then this wasn’t really the bar he knew so well. It wasn’t real, none of it, he knew that now. Even Parker wasn’t entirely real.

“It’s all a lie,” he said, meeting her eyes again. “You and me, darlin’, it never happened this way, did it?”

She shook her head, dislodging further tears as the floor started to shake beneath her feet. It was all becoming unstable, falling apart. Eliot was waking and that meant the dream had to end, for the both of them. If only she had words to tell him, but Parker didn’t, not right now. Closing the gap between them, she kissed Eliot one more time, then turned and ran.

“Parker!” he yelled behind her as she leapt through the door, just in time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost at the end!

“I wish I could explain it more clearly than I have, Miss Cillian, but I’m afraid I simply have no more information,” said Jenkins, shaking his head. “As I already advised Mr Jones, I went to check on our prisoners, only to find the room completely empty. No signs of a break-out or a struggle at all. My only theory is that they were Fictionals.”

“Manifestations of characters from books, like Prospero and Moriarty,” she said, slowly nodding her head. “I guess that makes sense, but can’t they only die the way they do in the book they come from?”

“Quite so, but it is equally true that it takes much power to bring forth a Fictional. Prospero easily conjured Moriarty because of his own superior magic and because the character in question is so well written and well known. It is likely these two buffoons who broke into The Library were more minor characters with no real power or importance. They survived only long enough to create mayhem and then simply winked out of existence.”

It was a lot to take in, a lot for them all to think about, but it now seemed plain to Cassandra that Prospero was behind the attack. Maybe he wanted something particular stolen on his behalf, or perhaps he was just hoping to distract The Librarians from some other plan he had brewing. There were a lot of possibilities, but for the moment, they would all have to wait.

In the bed beyond, Eliot started to move. Just a hand at first, and then a foot. All at once he started to shake and Cassandra jumped up from her chair in surprise. This hadn’t happened before. She came to sit by Eliot as often as she could, but up to now the most she had seen move was his hand, just a fraction, when she touched it. This was something new and altogether scary.

“Eliot?” she called, hoping he might hear her. “Eliot, it’s okay.”

“It’s alright, Miss Cillian,” Jenkins assured her. “I believe he may be waking, at last.”

“Then that means...” she began, eyes wide with shock and panic, heart filling half with dread and the other half with a dare to dream. “Jenkins, please, stay with Eliot,” she urged him, running at full pelt down the corridor.

She came skidding into The Annex just in time to see Jake stumble through the magic door.

“You’re back!” she exclaimed, running to hug him tightly. “Where’s Parker?”

“She said she was right behind me,” he told her, holding on yet. “Is Eliot...?”

“We think he’s waking up. Mr Jenkins is with him.”

“Thanks, Cassie,” he told her, kissing her forehead before finally releasing her and running to his brother’s room.

Hardison and Jones appeared from the other direction a moment later.

“We got a message to Baird. She’s sitting tight, waiting on the door to get home,” Ezekiel explained. “What’s going on out here?”

“Eliot’s waking up,” said Cassandra, wiping tears from her eyes that she hardly knew she had been shedding until that moment. “Jake is back, but...”

“Where’s Parker?” asked Hardison, looking more than a little concerned.

He and the two Librarians all looked to the door at the same moment, just as Parker came diving through. Her face was red, her eyes damp. Cassandra was certain now that she wasn’t the only one who had been crying.

“Parker, are you okay?” she asked her, reaching out as if to touch her but never quite making contact.

She shook her head, glancing at Hardison. Their eyes met and something unknown to the Librarians seemed to pass between them. Cassie would bet anything she had on this particular relationship being over before long. She wasn’t quite sure how things were between Parker, Hardison, and Eliot, but she did know it was complicated. Also, no matter how much they all loved each other, there were only two that truly belonged as a couple, and it didn’t seem to Cassie to be the two who were already dating.

“I have to go,” Parker muttered, straightening herself up and rushing down the corridor.

She couldn’t deal with Hardison right now. In the end, she knew she was going to have to, because there was a lot to be said, but for now, she just needed to see Eliot and know he was okay. Parker thought she knew what pain was, especially the emotional kind, but having to leave Eliot and walk through that door had been so hard, even knowing as she did that it wasn’t entirely real.

Parker arrived in Eliot’s room and found Jacob and Jenkins blocking her view of the bed.

“Take it easy man,” Jake advised his brother.

“Indeed, Mr Spencer, I would advise you do not rush yourself. Both your body and brain have been through quite the ordeal.”

“I’m fine,” Eliot growled, the way only he could.

Parker felt a bubbling inside and then laughter escaped her lips unchecked. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth as Jake and Jenkins moved away to either side and finally she saw Eliot. He looked like he always did, no change. She didn’t know why she expected there to be one. He was the same here as in his dream. In fact, right now, he was even looking at her just as he had there.

“Hey, darlin’,” he said, smiling just a little.

“Hey,” she replied in kind, watching his expression closely. “You remember,” she said, a statement not a question because she could just see it, in his eyes, in his face.

“Yeah, I remember,” he confirmed, nodding his head. “Things just got a lot more complicated, didn’t they?”

* * *

The moment Eve got back to The Annex and heard some of what had been happening, she tried to insist she was going right back out again to find Flynn.

“No, that’s what he wants,” Ezekiel told her, shaking his head. “Can’t you see we’re being played? Somehow, Prospero tricked you into thinking Flynn wanted you to join him, sending you off on some wild goose chase, and then suddenly The Library is attacked. The minute Flynn gets back and knows you’re missing, he goes out looking for you, when we finally get you back, you want to go looking for him. This could go on forever!”

“And in the meantime, The Library doesn’t have its Guardian or its chief Librarian,” Cassandra noted. “It really does make more sense for you to stay,” she told Baird definitely.

Eve sighed, hating the fact she knew they were right.

“I don’t know what the big deal was about getting rid of me and Flynn,” she said then. “Seems to me you guys coped just fine without us.”

“We did, kind of,” Jake admitted, “but I’m not sure my brother and his friends are having a great time on this visit they’re paying us,” he said in a low voice, leaning across the table. “Reckon we caused more problems than we solved there.”

Cassandra leaned in too, lowering her voice as much as she could.

“It’s not our fault if Parker likes Eliot better than Hardison.”

Ezekiel shushed them both as his fellow hacker emerged from Jenkin’s lab.

“Good news is I think I got a ping back offa your man Flynn’s device. Got the co-oordinates right here. Jenkins seems to think he can aim your door mojo right there and you guys will find him easy now.”

“Thanks, mate,” said Ezekiel, taking the piece of paper and slapping his new found friend on the shoulder. “Age of the geek,” he said, grinning and offering Hardison a high five.

“Yeah, man,” he replied though his own smile was much less enthusiastic.

“You said the good news,” Eve realised aloud. “Is there also bad news?”

“Not for you guys.” Hardison shook his head, glancing down the corridor to where he knew Eliot and Parker were alone still.

With a sigh he headed down that way, almost knowing what he would find when he got there and not liking it one little bit. Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t ready. A part of him had been preparing for this moment for just about as long as he had known Parker and Eliot, and he would take the obvious outcome like a man, no matter how much it hurt.

As he reached the room, he realised the door had been left half open. They wouldn’t be able to see him from there, but he could hear every word they said. Wrong as it was, Hardison hung back a little and listened in for a while.

“Have you liked me since then?” asked Parker. “Like, liked me, liked me.”

“Parker, I’ve always liked you. I... I’ve loved you, from maybe the first time you threw yourself out of a window right into my arms,” Eliot told her truthfully. “But come on, how was that ever gonna work out? Me being who I am, you being who you are. I’m not built for relationships, marriage, all that long-haul stuff. I couldn’t give you a life like you needed.”

“Who said I wanted all that?” she countered. “Okay, so when we met, I didn’t even know how to be in a relationship. Sometimes I’m still not sure I do, but with you... I’d’ve tried.”

“You tried with Hardison.”

“I did, but I can’t... I do love him and he’s such a great guy, like my best friend. I wanted to be what he wanted me to be because... because it was nice. It was the normal thing to do and that had to be right... except when it wasn’t.”

There was a long silence in which Hardison debated walking in and saying something or just walking away and maybe never coming back. He knew Parker cared about him, he knew Eliot did too. They all loved each other in their own ways and that was what made this so hard.

Hardison never did think he stood a chance with Parker, not only because, as she had said, she didn’t even know how to be in a relationship in the beginning, but also because she was so way out of his league. He tried his luck, but he was actually waiting for the day when Parker and Eliot hooked up, for sex or for forever, maybe one and then the other, it didn’t matter. Eliot and Parker just made sense, two beautiful people with relatable skills. He taught her to fight and she was the least squeamish of any of them and so was able to help with the patching up when he needed it. Somehow, he cooked things she liked, even though she didn’t like anything that wasn’t processed and full of sugar the rest part of the time. He took the time with her where he just wouldn’t with anyone else, at least not in the same way, with the same amount of care.

“Once you were with Hardison, I knew there was no way,” said Eliot suddenly, regretfully too. “Not that I thought it’d happen anyway but when you two... that was it. I was never going to step on his toes, not him. He’s my brother, Parker, almost as much as Jake.”

“I know,” she replied, tears evident in her voice. “I really don’t wanna hurt him, but I can’t pretend it’s going to work. It’s not. He wants this future that I can’t handle and...”

“And?” Eliot prompted.

“And I want to go back to the world where we had an apartment over McRory’s and it was you and me from the start.”

Hardison closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe. She was crying and he knew it. He felt like doing much the same, but that wouldn’t help. It probably would’ve been easier if Eliot and Parker made things happen back in the day. It would’ve been tough, but Hardison would’ve gotten over it. It was harder now, much harder, but if he loved Parker like he said he did and cared for Eliot just the same, he knew he had to suck it up, be a man, accept that nobody was really at fault here and life just sucked sometimes.

Clearing his throat, mostly just so they knew he was there, Hardison pushed forward into the room. He watched Parker’s head quickly lift off Eliot’s shoulder and his arm fall away from her back. They were sat together on the bed, close as anyone could be, and then suddenly two feet apart in an instant.

“Hey, glad to see you awake, man,” said Hardison, putting out a hand to Eliot.

“Glad to be back,” he replied, smiling some as they shared their usual high-five/fist-bump combo.

“See, that part I ain’t so sure about,” his friend said, shaking his head. “Seems to me you had things just how you wanted in that dream o’ yours.”

“Hardison...” Parker began, but he put up a hand to silence her.

“No, mama,” he told her, turning to glance at her. “I know what you gonna say and I can’t hear it right now, alright? This ain’t your fault. Ain’t nobody’s fault,” he assured her, looking from Parker to Eliot. “Nobody here did something they ought to be ashamed of. Hell, if a man could get into trouble for what he dreams about other women,” he said, shaking his head.

“It’s not that simple,” said Parker sadly.

“I know it ain’t,” Hardison agreed, “but I can make it simple. See, I kinda been waiting for this day. I started to think maybe I avoided it altogether, but I shoulda known better.”

“Hardison...” Eliot tried but his friend wouldn’t listen.

“Nah, man, let me get this out,” he insisted. “I got lucky, you know? I got to be with the most amazing woman in the world for quite a while there, and I got the best brother a guy could ask for to watch is back too. I ain’t suffered being in a team with the two o’ you, but I always had this feeling, like one day maybe you was gonna realise that as cool as it was for us to be a team of five or three or whatever, there’s times when things just gotta be two... and that’s you two.”

They didn’t say anything. Neither Parker nor Eliot knew what they possibly could say in such a moment. Hardison knew what they meant to each other and somehow, he seemed to be stepping out of the equation and just letting them be together. It was incredibly selfless and noble, and pretty amazing to Eliot who had been sure that, despite the obvious consequences, Hardison was going to take a swing at him for this.

“You’re a better man than me, Hardison,” he told him honestly, getting to his feet on shaky legs. “You deserve better than this, but it ain’t something I can change.”

“Yeah, well.” Hardison shrugged. “You just make sure you take care of her, or I can make your life a living hell with a few clicks, you feel me?”

Eliot smiled and nodded his head, taking a hold of Hardison’s hand to shake, and then pulling him into a tight hug.

“I love you, brother. Always.”

“Back at ya,” Hardison agreed, as they parted. “This team matters. We got work to do yet and I’m gonna be a part of that, you better believe, but for right now, I... I gotta go,” he told Eliot and Parker both.

“I’m so sorry, Hardison,” said Parker tearfully. “I... I’ll miss you.”

“Hey, it ain’t forever, mama,” he promised, considering hugging her too but knowing that really would break him. “Hell, maybe I’ll talk to these Librarians about sending me on some out of this world mission or what not,” he joked. “You just be cool, okay?”

He turned to leave then and though it hurt that nobody really tried to stop him, Hardison was glad to keep walking. Like he said, it wasn’t forever, but he was going to have to get used to how things were going to be from now on and figure out if he could deal with it, somehow.

Back in the room he had left behind, Parker wiped tears from her cheeks and stood up beside Eliot.

“Are you okay?” she checked.

“Yeah,” he replied hoarsely. “I meant what I said, Parker, he is a better man than me,” he said, turning to face her. “You know that.”

“All I know is that I never hurt so much as when I had to walk through that magic door and leave you behind,” she said honestly. “Even though I knew it wasn’t real.”

“It felt real to me,” Eliot admitted. “And it damn near killed me to watch you go.”

They wrapped their arms around each other then, holding on for dear life, sure of only one thing - that they never wanted to let go ever again.


	10. Chapter 10

“I hope he’s gonna be okay,” said Jake, watching Hardison walk away from the Annex via the video feed in the mirror. “I know El, it must’ve killed him to have to hurt the guy.”

“They say true love conquers all,” said Cassandra, close to his side, “but conquering always implies war to me, and there never was a war without casualties. Almost makes me glad that I never... well, long-term relationships are tough for the girl with the brain grape anyway.”

She wore a wry smile when she said it, knowing exactly what she was implying with those words. Relationships were bad, she didn’t want one, couldn’t afford to get into that. It all made good sense and yet, when she looked at Jacob, she wished she never implied such a thing. She wished all of this was easier.

This was the first time they had been alone together since Jake and Parker came back through the mirror. Between dealing with Eliot’s waking and Eve’s return and all, there really hadn’t been an opportunity to talk. Now Jenkins and Ezekiel were debriefing Eliot and Parker, for lack of a better phrase, leaving Jake and Cassie alone since they said goodbye for now to Hardison. If only one of them knew what to say.

“Cassie...” Jake began, immediately struggling. “I, er... I wanted to thank you for everything you did while we were gone. Jenkins said something about you sitting with El, just talking to him, making sure he was okay.”

“It was nothing really.” Cassie shook her head. “I just did what anyone would do. It probably didn’t even make much of a difference,” she said, laughing almost nervously as she backed up a step out of his personal space.

“You did what you could. You tried, just like always,” said Jake, shrugging his shoulders. “I told you, Cassie, I left you back here because I trusted you to do what needed to be done and you did.”

“I’m just so glad you came back,” she admitted then, unable to hold it in any longer. “I know we’ve all been on missions and put ourselves in danger before but... but this was different. Anything could’ve happened. Somebody else’s dream, that not a place you can go rescue someone from if... if the worst happens.”

“The worst didn’t happen,” he reminded her gently. “The best happened. We woke up Eliot, he and Parker are doing good. Plus, we got Eve back and a lead on Flynn. It’s all getting straightened out, everything’s good.”

“Unless you’re Hardison,” said Cassie, frowning at the thought.

“Yeah, that’s not great,” Jake admitted, running a hand back through his hair, “but what were El and Parker supposed to do? You can’t make yourself love somebody when you don’t.”

“You also can’t make yourself stop caring about someone or being attracted to them so easily either.”

There was significance in the way Cassandra said those words, Jacob was sure of it, and yet when he glanced at her and found her looking away, he doubted it again. They had grown so close lately, friends in the truest sense, but he couldn’t help but wonder if it was meant to be more. Though he would never admit it, he was almost too afraid to ask.

Eventually, he summoned up the nerve, speaking her name and reaching a hand to her shoulder, the very same moment that she turned to him and said his own name. They smiled, almost laughing at themselves for what they had done.

“Ladies first,” he offered, forever the gentleman.

Cassie nodded her agreement, and yet, when she opened her mouth no words came out. Jake never saw her look so unsure of herself, not once.

“Okay then,” he said when she glanced away again. “Look, I’m just gonna say this, and if I’m outta line then you just tell me,” he said, taking a gentle hold of her by the the upper arms so she pretty much had to look at him. “Cassandra, you know I like you... a lot, and I didn’t know what to do about that, or even if I should try and do anything about that, but the fact is, seeing El and Parker, how they just wasted time and let things get this far without ever... they should’ve grabbed happiness when they had the chance,” he said definitely, “but they almost left it too late, and I don’t wanna-”

It was as far as he got with his impassioned speech before Cassandra found the right way to respond. At least it must’ve seemed like the right way to her and Jake sure wasn’t arguing as she pushed herself forward and crushed her lips against his own. Her arms were up around his neck, holding him close as she kissed him like her life depended on it. There was no way for Jake to do anything but kiss her back. It was all he wanted to do in any case.

A few moments later, Cassandra pulled away, not that she could go far with Jake’s arms now holding her tight. To be honest, she was in no hurry to escape anyway.

“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head, “you weren’t finished talking.”

“Really doesn’t matter,” Jake promised her, not caring that they had barely caught their breath before moving in to kiss her once more.

“Jake,” Cassie said, pulling back again, “you know that I... I care for you so much, but my future, it’s very uncertain,” she reminded him, looking up into his eyes.

“With this job, all our lives are uncertain, Cass,” he told her seriously. “I know that’s not what you meant, but whatever time we got here, for whatever reason, can’t we just agree not to waste a second of it?”

He wasn’t sure what else she was expecting him to say. There was no way in hell Jake was about to agree to forget this ever happened and have Cassie walk away from him. They had gotten this far and after seeing how badly things had gone in Eliot’s team because people didn’t speak up about their feelings sooner, Jake was not about to let that happen here, he just couldn’t.

On Cassie’s side, there really wasn’t a part of her that didn’t want this. She had liked Jake for so long, from the very beginning if she was honest, and now they were both on the same page about their feelings, it would be pretty crazy not to see if they could make it work. She did worry what the future held for her, and how hard it could be on both Jake and herself if the worst should happen too soon with her tumour and everything. Of course, what Jake said was true. In their line of work as Librarians, truly anything could happen. It did seem foolish to waste a moment of the time they could have together.

“Yes,” she said eventually. “We could do that. We should, otherwise we’re wasting our lives away and I couldn’t stand the idea of that.”

Jake smiled at her answer and then they both leaned in to another kiss. In the minutes that followed they became so lost in each other that they never even noticed the magic door come to life, or a person stumbling into The Annex.

“Okay then,” said Flynn, finally getting the attention of his fellow Librarians who all but leapt apart. “I see there have been some developments,” he said, grinning widely.

Cassandra blushed at being caught and even Jacob looked a little embarrassed as he faced Flynn with his own nervous smile.

“Welcome home.”

* * *

“Though my knowledge of medicine is limited, I can be trusted in all matters related to magic,” said Jenkins, replacing one of several instruments that Eliot didn’t understand back into its rightful box. “So, please believe me when I assure you, once again, that you are now quite back to normal, Mr Spencer. There really is no trace of magic left in your system.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear,” said Eliot, nodding his head. “This headache was making me wonder.”

“Perfectly normal in the circumstances,” Flynn declared, appearing almost as if from nowhere. “One rarely has an encounter with a Greek artefact without some aftereffects, am I right, Jenkins?”

“Absolutely so, Mr Carsen,” the caretaker agreed, wheeling his trolley of equipment out of the room.

“Flynn Carsen, the Librarian,” said Eliot, looking him up and down. “I pictured you taller.”

“Well, had I known our Mr Stone had a twin brother, I would’ve pictured you identical, but you’re not, at least, not quite,” he said, staring rather too closely at Eliot’s face.

“I’ve killed people for less than what you’re doing right now,” said Eliot coldly.

“Yeah, but you don’t do that anymore,” Parker reminded him, rolling her eyes. “Don’t let him scare you. He only beats up bad guys now.”

“I’m definitely not a bad guy,” said Flynn, backing up a step or two, hands raised in a gesture of surrender, just in case. “In fact, with my being tied to the Library and Stone being similarly entwined, that makes us practically family, and therefore, by extension, we would be family too,” he said, gesturing vaguely between himself and Eliot.

“Maybe,” the hitter agreed, nodding his head. “That doesn’t mean we belong here. It was great seeing Jake again, but this place hasn’t exactly done much good for me and my people.”

“It wasn’t all bad,” said Parker, moving in a little closer, smiling when Eliot’s arm crept up around her shoulders.

“No, not all of it,” he agreed, kissing her cheek. “Still, we should probably get out of here. Well, as soon as we say goodbye to Jake.”

“Goodbye?” his brother echoed, appearing in the doorway. “You leavin’, El?”

“We don’t belong here, Jake,” Eliot told him what he was sure he already knew. “This was only ever supposed to be a flying visit.”

“But you’ll stay in touch, right?” asked Cassie hovering at Jake’s side. “I mean, you guys just found each other again...”

“We’ll be around,” Eliot promised.

“That’s good.” Jake nodded.

As the two brothers hugged it out, their respective girlfriends looked to each other, neither really knowing what to say. Unsurprisingly, it was Cassie who thought of something first.

“So, it was very nice meeting you. I hope you and Eliot are very happy together.”

“We will be.” Parker nodded. “So long as he doesn’t get knocked on the head by anymore magic rocks.”

“Trust me, that ain’t happenin’ again,” said Eliot definitely as he and Jake parted from their hug. “You got that thing locked up now, right?”

“Jenkins took care of it,” his brother promised. “I think pretty much everything is taken care of for now, ‘cept for Prospero.”

“Eve and Ezekiel are preparing for a catch-up meeting as we speak,” Flynn told them. “I actually came down here to see if our guests wanted to stay any longer. There’s always room for the kinds of skills you each have when it comes to these matters.”

Eliot looked at Parker who wore a deep frown.

“I like magic better when it’s on TV,” she admitted. “The shiny things here aren’t worth the damage they can do.”

“The lady has spoken,” said Eliot with a smile as he looked to Flynn, Cassie, and finally Jake. “We have our own jobs to do.”

As the rest of Team Library convened in The Annex to discuss their next move in defeating Prospero, Jacob Stone walked Eliot and Parker down to the exit from the hidden place inside the bridge. Parker stepped out into real daylight for the first time in too long, squinting against the light but smiling all the same, as Eliot hovered on the threshold.

“You meant what you said about us keeping in touch?” Jacob checked.

“You ever known me say anything to you that I didn’t mean, Jake?” asked Eliot with a look. “C’mere, man,” he said then, pulling his twin into one last hug.

“I love you, El,” he said softly as they both held on tight.

“Yeah, love you too,” he replied, slapping his back. “Now, get back to your team and figure things out. We didn’t bring down all those crooked business folks and phony shell companies just so the world could go to hell in some crazy wizard’s handbasket,” he told Jake with a look.

“We’ll figure it out. We always do,” he promised his brother.

With a salute-like wave, Eliot finally turned to leave, throwing his arm around Parker’s shoulders as she slid hers around his waist. 

“I like your brother,” she said as they walked along, “but I like you better.”

Eliot laughed, he couldn’t help himself. “There’s something wrong with you,” he said, looking at her with nothing but love and affection in his gaze, “but you’re my kinda wrong, darlin’.”

“That’s probably why this will work out,” she said, smiling right back at him. “Who needs magic? We have us.”


End file.
